


Finding My Voice

by Dat_Ashe_Tho



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: BATIM, Bendy cast is 2D, Bendy doesn't know how to handle his feelings properly, Bendy doesn't understand humans most of the time, Bendy is kind of an asshole?, F/M, Isolation, Kind of his own brand of Yandere, Multi, Nostalgia, Not a stereotypical yandere, Reader Has A Name, Reader is a voice actor, Reader is technically female but I'm trying to write it more non-binary, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Takes place in the 00s, The Toons exist, Who Framed Roger Rabbit Effect, Will warn if NSFW, smug, snarky, some nsfw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-01-23 17:53:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12512932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dat_Ashe_Tho/pseuds/Dat_Ashe_Tho
Summary: After years of development hell, the "Bendy and Friends" cartoons are getting a reboot! Developed by a crew led by none other than the descendant of Henry himself, you jumped at the opportunity to take part. With a nerve wracking audition at the HQ, you've waited for over a month to hear back if you made it or not. Today, you check your mailbox, and find a letter with the signature Bendy face on it.





	1. The Band's Back Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's set the scene, bring the characters into our world, and begin the show!  
> (Side note: even though it's set in the 00s, the characters still occasionally use terminology from the 80s, I hope it isn't too confusing)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terve everyone, I got HEAVILY inspired by the stories Aha! ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/11265189/chapters/25188693 ) and Sympathy With the Devil (https://archiveofourown.org/works/10717479?view_full_work=true ) as well as Guilt Tripping ( https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12433435/1/Guilt-Tripping-Bendy-x-Reader ) but of course, I'm making my own story with my own interpretation of the game. I would have credited all of them in the "inspired by" section, but it doesn't give you the option to tag three different works, so I hope this makes up for it. I just have a huge amount of respect for those stories and how well they're written. So, I've written my own fic! I sincerely hope it lives up to everyone's expectations, enjoy the ride!

_"Micah S. Hammond,_  
_We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to return to our studio to go through a detailed run down as to what we expect from you. Discussions of payment, perks, and other topics of a similar ilk will also be addressed. At the same time, you will be meeting the voices of the other characters as well as the crew that you will be working with. This will be the point where you find out which character we will have you voice. The invitation with the date, address, and parking information is enclosed with this letter. Please be sure to bring the invitation with you, as you will not be permitted on the premises otherwise. Thank you for auditioning._  
_Best regards,_  
_Robert Mike Mood_  
  
Your hands shook as you finished reading the letter a few more times; the weight of the words in the letter causing you to sit down. A moment passed where you could swear that you had died due to the lack of air entering your lungs. White noise filled your head and you lost the capacity to function for a full minute before the news finally stopped echoing in your head. _You were accepted. You were going to voice a character on the reboot of "Bendy and Friends"!_ Immediately jumping up, you ran into your roommate's room and screamed.  
  
"OW! WHAT THE HELL MIC!?" He screamed, hitting his head on the shelf that he'd been cleaning.  
  
"GABE! I GOT IN! I GOT THE JOB!!"  
  
"Wait, are you talking about Bendy!?" Gabe's eyes widened as he realized the magnitude of what you were talking about. After aggressively nodding your head, Gabe ran to you, hugged you, picked you up, and spun you around. "THAT'S FUCKING AWESOME! I'M PROUD OF YOU!"  
  
After Gabe had put you back down and you'd regained your breath, the both of you agreed that tonight deserved some celebration. "Okay, drinks are on me tonight. You deserve this!"  
  
After voicing various characters in video games and one background role on a popular kids show, you were finally going to get the opportunity to be a part of one of your childhood memories. While other people were watching "Saved By the Bell", "Three's Company", Disney Shows or things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you had found a select group of people who loved watching things like "The Twilight Zone" or the reruns of the "Bendy and Friends" cartoons. This was actually how you met Gabe, Erica, and Patrick; your best friends since primary school. You four would often find yourselves drawing the cartoons, talking about some of the shenanigans that they got up to, discuss theories or episodes that were no longer broadcasted, good times.  
  
After Patrick passed away, the three of you were inseparable. All the way until college, the three of you were now roommates with you and Erica in one room with a bunk bed and Gabe in his own little broom closet of a room. Gabe was learning to become a comic artist and Erica was learning massage therapy. Three weirdos, one apartment. Sounds like a sitcom.  
  
"Uh...Mic?"  
  
"Huh, what?"  
  
Gabe laughed for a solid minute at your reaction. "You totally spaced out for about five minutes. I was gettin' kinda worried. Want to get ready to celebrate?"  
  
"It's not even 5pm dude, happy hour doesn't start for another hour."  
  
"Get real, it takes you half an hour to get ready. Get some pants on and don't veg out on me again." As Gabe turned away, you couldn't help but laugh. Walking around without pants had become a habit since you were a kid. Oversized shirts were your favourite and, since they didn't show your butt, nobody could complain about it.  
  
After getting the last few kinks in your hair out, Gabe returned as soon as you put down your brush. "Thirty minutes, on the dot."  
  
You threw the brush at him. "Stop being a dweeb, Gabe!"  
  
"Alright, alright, calm down. We haven't even gotten to the bar yet and you're already gettin' aggressive. Sheesh!" Gabe exclaimed. "Let's get to Gigi's before the line starts!"  
  
"Ah, my favourite. You really understand me." You remarked, giving Gabe a look.  
  
You both shared a laugh before Gabe grabbed his wallet and keys. You grabbed a jacket before turning out the lights, and the two of you were on your way to the bar. Along the way, Gabe was grilling you about what you knew about your role. After explaining to him for the seventh time that you'd find out when you get to the meeting on Thursday, he finally got the gist of what was up and turned to different topics. Both of you had a heavy-handed amount of nostalgia while reminiscing on the old show; with Gabe teasing you about how much you loved Boris, and you teasing him back because he thought Alice Angel was prettier than any cartoon girl he'd seen.  
  
"Hey, Alice can beat out Jessica Rabbit any day!" Gabe protested.  
  
"Yeah, sure. Alice is hot, but she can't win against Jessica." The two of you began to argue over who would win, but the battle was cut short when he pulled up to the parking garage near the bar. After a solid fifteen minutes passed, Gabe finally pulled into a free spot near the roof. You both made your way to the elevator with Gabe complaining about how he should have brought a jacket. Finally, you were inside the bar with some nice electropop music pumping in the background. From the looks of it, there were only a few other people there besides yourselves and the occasional go-go dancer running around while getting ready to perform. Gabe sat down on a neon-pink bar stool before you sat down next to him on an equally bright seat.  
  
The night was a blur of alcohol, getting hit on by some attractive girls, and Gabe practically dragging your drunk ass home. That Wednesday morning had you hungover and hiding under your blanket while Gabe fed you soup and ginger ale. Eventually, your room wasn't spinning to the point of retching, so the two of you took a moment to play melee for about two hours before you managed to drag yourself out of bed to take a proper bath. Silently, you prayed that you wouldn't be too sick to attend the meeting. There was nothing that could stop you from going, but you didn't want to suddenly release a green and brown storm on one of your cast members. That wouldn't be nice.  
  
"Hey Mic, what time do you need to be at the meeting tomorrow?"  
  
"What?" You said flatly while still cleaning your hair with a towel.  
  
**"Jesus H Christ on a dinosaur, put some clothes on!"**  
  
You laughed hysterically at Gabe's reaction. You, Gabe, and Erica had seen one another naked more times than you could think of. It also led to you and Erica teasing Gabe for having a "turtleneck penis". Erica had earned the nickname "Salami Boobs" and you were "Gollum". "Also, you need to eat more! You look like the grim reaper!"  
  
"Yup, I'm actually here to collect your soul...I've just been your best friend since 1st grade for the hell of it. Gets pretty boring on the other side."  
  
"Tell me more," Gabe said while laughing. He threw a shirt at you from the couch and you reluctantly put it on, letting an exaggerated groan out with a smile. "Come on, you can't be naked all the time."  
  
"Try me."  
  
"Oh yeah, 'hey boss! I'm here for work! Sorry, I forgot my clothes in my other closet!'" You both ended up on the floor in a bad case of giggle fits. You talked to Gabe for about an hour before deciding to make yourself some tea and head to bed. Gabe wished you a goodnight and you spent some time reading before eventually falling asleep, making the excellent choice of falling asleep without brushing your teeth. The higher ups were definitely going to appreciate that. You could just brush in the morning and use a mint or two. Sleep was too good to drag yourself to the sink.  
  
You woke up to your alarm screeching for you to get your ass out of bed. Desperate, you pawed around your end table trying to find the mischievous alarm clock. It was smart though, and evaded your touch for a solid minute before you slammed your hand down on the button. Sweet silence greeted your ears...for a short while.  
  
"WUPH!" You managed to wheeze-scream out as Gabe landed on top of you.  
  
"Time to get to work. Rise and shine, doll face," he said as if he had been practicing the lines his whole life. "Come on, first day of work at the dream job!"  
  
"Shaddaaaaap daaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" You groaned. "Wake me up in five more years."  
  
Gabe pulled the covers off. You pulled your legs up to your chest and hissed viciously at the evil man robbing you of your peaceful sleep. Eventually, after a lot more goading, you managed to pry yourself away from the warm blankets, throw on some decent enough clothes, eat your Fruit Loops, grab your invitation, and squish yourself inside Gabe's tiny car. Staring out your window. You watched the sun happily rise on the horizon as well as the hundreds of other cars moving along the road. It was oddly calming to see that, despite your new, exciting, and nerve wracking new job in your life, other people were still going about their mundane business. They wouldn't even care if they looked over and saw you giving them a raspberry. Nope, not at all.  
  
You arrived in downtown and, after driving around for a little, managed to find the building where the meeting was taking place. Gabe gave you a hug before you said your goodbyes and he pulled away from the sidewalk. Turning around, the building seemed to both intimidate and excite you. This was so surreal to you. This was a moment of a life time. If only you had your disposable camera to take a picture of this occasion. You took one deep breath, held it, and made your way through the heavy doors.  
  
\------  
  
"Do you have your invitation?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"May I please see it?" You hand your invitation to the middle-aged lady at the front desk. She flips the card over to check your name, write something down on a clip board, stamp the letter, and then hand it back to you. "Take the elevator to the 8th floor and it'll be in the large room to your left. You can't miss it!" She said cheerfully, giving you a warm smile. "Have a wonderful day!"  
  
"Thank you. Same goes for you!" You reply and jog up to the elevator. You waited about a minute before the doors opened. Stepping foot in the elevator brought back the nervous feelings you were having earlier. The urge to make an impression as well as find out what your role was practically consumed you at this point. You could hear your blood pounding in your ears as you patiently wait for the number eight to appear on the little panel to the right of the doors. Finally, a pleasant _"ding"_ sounded before you were released from the tiny elevator. Sure enough, the lady was right. The room was incredibly difficult to miss. It literally had a picture of the head of Bendy on the door. If it wanted to be obvious, they should have been playing the original theme of the show with an animatronic Bendy dancing around.  
  
You quietly made your way to the cluster of chairs gathered in the middle of the room. A few groups of people had formed with some exceptions sitting silently in their chairs while waiting patiently for the meeting to begin. Some chairs had yet to be filled and you found a comfy little metal chair of your own to sit in. Almost immediately, a pretty young lady turned her head to see you sitting next to her, and she gave you a big smile.  
  
"Sorry, most of the other chairs are taken," you stated, giving an apologetic look.  
  
"Oh no no no! It's fine! I'm actually kind of happy to see another girl on the team! I swear the ratio of the guys to gals here is eight to one. It's a little disheartening," she said, turning to face you properly and sticking out her hand. "April Oswald!"  
  
"Micah Hammond."  
  
"No way! Didn't you play that crazy orange puppet on..."  
  
"Yup, that's me." The role had definitely garnered attention with the parents and teens of the country. It was probably one of the roles that caught the producer's attention when reviewing the resumes presented during the auditions. Despite how much that role meant to you, it always brought an unnecessary amount of attention wherever you went. You were _still_ getting used to people noticing you. This role definitely wasn't going to help. Maybe not though, since it was an old show. It might not even get much attention. You didn't mind the attention so much as the amount of people quoting the puppet...especially when they just couldn't get the voice right.  
  
"Wow! I'm really excited now!" She exclaimed. "I'm so nervous! Since they didn't release who we'd be playing, it's been playin' on my mind since I got the letter!"  
  
"That frustrated me too! Why not tell us upfront instead of waiting?"  
  
"I suppose they wanted to keep it a surprise, but it's still tedious when you get right down to it." You couldn't help but notice that April was obviously trying to hide a southern drawl. It was kind of cute, but you could understand why she was hiding it; city-folk and everything. The two of you chatted for the rest of the remaining time before all the chairs were finally filled with people. There must have been around fifty people so far, and most of them were either talking, sleeping, or quietly reading to pass the time. You, yourself, were getting to know April, her love of the show, as well as her missing Albuquerque. You could tell that this was the start of a blooming work relationship, and it made you happy to already become friends with someone on the first day.  
  
Your happiness was short-lived as the front door opened ominously as five, well-dressed men entered through the door and approached the seated group. You had never felt so intimidated as you gazed upon these people. There was no mistaking that these were your superiors, and you instinctively sat up to appear more proper. You recognized two of the men from the audition day.  
  
"That's Mr. Mood..." April whispered, nodding to the man at the back of the group. A very vivid memory flashed into your mind as you recalled him having virtually no reaction to your audition before he calmly dismissed you, saying that he'd seen everything he wanted to. This man could intimidate the devil himself. The way he carried himself, the way his face seemed to silently condescend the entire group of fifty people, and the sharp eyes that analyzed every person who dared to meet his gaze.  
  
He and his posse sat down with the man to his right electing to stay standing.  
  
"Welcome!" He stated cheerfully, easing the mood in the room. "You have all been selected to be a part of the 'Bendy and Friends' reboot! It was...shocking...to say the least; to find so many talented young people showing up at our audition. Most of them even grew up with the show! That's...ink-credible!" The group laughed weakly at the poorly-made pun. "If you remember, during your audition, you also handed in various details regarding your banking. Rest assured, this entire session _will_ be paid." A sigh of relief erupted from a few members of the group. "You will be finding out your roles, doing some group exercises to get to know your cast and crew, filling out some more paperwork as well as signing your official contract to the company, and letting us know about other details, schedule conflicts, and so on. Don't feel as though you need to be all formal for this occasion. We are a _team_. Teams are not a nine-to-five corporate job." Again, more weak laughter. "I'm going to hand the floor over to Robert over here, but before I do that; hello! I'm Aaron Landon! I'm the head of the music team for this project!" He was enthusiastic, genuine, and exuded friendliness; definitely a direct opposite to Mr. Mood. He sat down as the group clapped enthusiastically for him.  
  
Robert Mike Mood stood up, and the whole room fell silent.  
  
"As my fellow dreamer put it, you will be informed of everything involving this project. Keep in mind, that you are not the only people on this team. This group, right now, makes up the voice acting, sound technicians, as well as the character animators. We thought it best, as the three groups will be working very closely together. The scenery artists, miscellaneous character animators, musicians, and so forth, will be in the second group later this afternoon. Do not think us so ignorant that we would choose to begin this project with a mere fifty people." He paused a moment, a few of the group looking down. Mr. Mood reached into his coat pocket and brought out a neatly folded piece of paper. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Now then, for the voice actors..." You stiffened up as you eagerly anticipated what would happen next. "I will be listing each voice actor's name after their respective character, beginning with the Butcher Gang before announcing who will play the trio. Barley: David Marshall. Charley: Mickey Iger. Edgar: Kyle Swanson." He paused for a moment while a few murmurs of congratulations resonated throughout the crowd and others eagerly awaited for the main three. You knew that there would also be voice actors for additional voices, but they were never officially named at the meetings. Only the main cast ever got their names read.  
  
"Now then, for the main characters..." He paused for a moment as his eyes found their way to the specific section of his paper. "Boris will be played by Harvey Valiant..." An exuberant amount of congratulations went towards an older man with brown hair, glasses, and freckles. You made a mental note to socialize with him later. "Alice Angel; by a Ms. April Oswald..." I gave April an encouraging hug. Her face was utterly frozen in disbelief. "Finally, the role of our Little Devil Darlin' himself goes to a young lady who we were surprised by. She gave her all in the booth and, despite the nerves that she was feeling, gave a hundred and ten percent and so much more. I'll admit, even I was impressed by her audition. Everyone give her a wonderful welcome to the team; Micah Hammond."  
  
...  
  
...  
  
What?  
  
Suddenly, April was the one giving you a hug. You were also receiving pats on the back from a multitude of different people. A flurry of congratulations flew in your ears and out on the other side while you continued to veg out. The news wasn't quite sinking in properly, even thought it was right in front of your face with how other people were reacting. The seconds passed and you were still staring into space, unable to comprehend the news.  
  
Until it finally hit you harder than a heavy blizzard.  
  
You were voicing Bendy.  
  
\------  
  
"OW! MIC! MY EARS!" Gabe yelled as soon as you'd stopped screaming in his car. "WOULD YOU MIND TELLING ME WHY YOU WANT ME TO GO DEAF!?"  
  
It took you a long time to describe the experience, but after you had finished relating how you'd managed to land the role of voicing Bendy, Gabe was squealing too.  
  
"Mic, we HAVE to call Erica about this! I don't care if she's still asleep; we're calling her about the good news tonight!" Gabe exclaimed.  
  
Erica had been away for a study abroad program in Tibet learning who knows what. She was the only one of the group who had been a closet geek since the beginning, and she hid it well with all things considered. She would be speaking politely and respectfully with her parents one moment; completely composed and calm. The instant you got her alone, she could tell you, in great detail, why she thought Batman was the coolest superhero even though he had no powers and why "The Never Ending Story" needed to be a staple in every household in the most child-like excitement you could imagine. Although, after Patrick's death, she all but isolated herself from the world. Erica barely watched movies, played games, or anything of the sort. She blamed herself for the whole tragedy, never being able to fully go through all the stages of grief. Stuck in a state of mourning, it seemed impossible for her to let go of his death. She couldn't have stopped the man, and the only way she could have stopped him involved her dying in Patrick's place. "It's a better outcome," she would always say when the subject was brought up.  
  
"Are you sure that she'd even be excited?" You asked. Keeping her state in mind.  
  
"Hey, don't talk like that. Erica may be depressed, but even she'd get excited for this. This is, like, a dream for you! Tell you what, I'll make you a deal: if she doesn't get excited, I'll take you back to Gigi's tonight. If she does, you owe me...SHIT!" He shouted and slammed his foot on the brake. You felt yourself shoot forward, the seat-belt being the only thing preventing your skull from getting cracked on the dashboard. Gabe's hand was pushing the horn for a solid half a minute while the car that almost crashed into him while running a red light made its way around him. Gabe was heavily breathing for a long moment before calming down. You were frozen in shock.  
  
"I am _so_ sorry!" Gabe exclaimed, fully aware of what was going through your head. "At least we're in a car, right? Not like..."  
  
"I know," you stated quickly before Gabe could finish that sentence. "Don't bring Patrick into this, please."  
  
"Sorry..." He murmured before continuing the drive home. Total silence ate away at the atmosphere of the car, leaving behind a feeling of sickening dread in addition to the memories of Patrick's death. Erica could have never stopped the car. No matter what, nothing could have possibly prevented what happened that day. Patrick would have died no matter what happened. It wasn't her fault.  
  
You kept thinking about Patrick's death and tears stung your eyes after a few minutes. Leaning back in your seat, you gently closed your eyes and hoped that you could nap a little before reaching the house. Nothing could stop those painful memories from resurfacing again.  
  
\------  
  
"Wake up, Mic, we're home."  
  
You opened your eyes and instantly regretted it. The sun was now directly shining into the windshield and straight into your eyes. Instinctively, you brought a hand up to protect yourself and quietly hissed at the bright light.  
  
"Come on, vampire. You're not going to burst into flames."  
  
"AHHH! IT BUUUUUURNS!" You whisper-yelled in an over-the-top manner; shaking and gesturing frantically for emphasis. Gabe laughed and slapped his hand to his forehead. "You know you love me."  
  
"Yeah sure, you dingus," he remarked as the two of you entered the apartment once more. "We need to clean up sometime. I know it's not _bad_ , but it still needs to be fixed up, you know?"  
  
"Yeah. I can get the dishes if you can clean up your laundry here."  
  
"That reminds me, do you know when your first day is?"  
  
"This Saturday."  
  
Gabe's eyes widened in shock. "That soon!?"  
  
"Yup, they want to start working on it as soon as possible. We're doing our lines first before the animators begin work. We're just doing a pilot right now that'll be aired on this channel called 'Boomerang'."  
  
"Oh yeah, that was created about a year and a half ago, right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So, tell me all about what happened! What was it like at the meeting? What did everybody do?" Gabe turned to face you properly and plopped himself down onto the coffee table.  
  
"That table is used for food and drinks, get your ass on the couch."  
  
"Well _excuuuuuuse_ me, princess!" He retorted and fell back onto the couch, practically sinking into the cushions.  
  
"Geez, I remember when that aired on television, we were all crying with laughter. How old were we? Twelve? Something like that?"  
  
"Yeah, you coughed up your popcorn because it got stuck in your throat while you were laughing."  
  
"Don't remind me," you replied, giggling as you joined Gabe on the couch. "To answer your question: Mood, that's the guy in charge, read out the characters from the show and who would be voicing them, that's how I learned I was voicing Bendy. Uh...we then got separated into groups. I got put with April, the voice of Alice, Harvey, the voice of Boris, the Butcher Gang voice actors, and the people who were going to be animating each of us. We introduced ourselves, played a few icebreaker games, and April and I exchanged numbers. Aaron, the music department guy, then hands out a bunch of paperwork to us. It had the contract, information pamphlets with stuff we should know about our characters, the studio, our schedules, etcetera. Then he told us when we'd officially start recording, we did a bunch of other stuff, and then we were dismissed."  
  
"So April's voicing Alice, huh? She pretty?" He asked jokingly.  
  
"Shut it, dude. Anyway, she's really cool and I actually want to call her later; probably after I clean up." You stated, shoving Gabe a little.  
  
"April and Micah sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n...!" You immediately smother Gabe with a couch cushion and he flails aggressively, playfully yelling "uncle" from under the cushion. After some more playful banter, you worked on the dishes for a while, organizing them in the dishwasher before setting the cycle and starting it up. The washer grumbled awake and started the long and boring procedure of cleaning the nasty plates, bowls, and cutlery. Feeling satisfied, you walked into the living room before picking up the landline by the sofa and dialing April's number.  
  
...  
  
"Hiya!" The peppiness in her voice immediately plastered a grin that Bendy, himself, would be jealous of onto your face.  
  
"Is your refrigerator running?" You said as seriously as possible.  
  
"Nope! It's sitting on the couch, watching cartoons!" She replied, leading to you two bursting out laughing. "How are you?! I didn't expect you to call me so quickly! You kind of seemed a little dazed after today!" The amount of energy in her voice was astounding and it was enough to make anyone feel happy.  
  
"Just finished up some cleaning. Lots of dirty dishes."  
  
"Ugh! I know the feeling. My roommates are _sooooooooo_ messy. I kept thinking, missy...did your parents even teach you _HOW_ to clean?! One of them doesn't even know how to work a washing machine...AT ALL! She never learned how! Her family had a maid!"  
  
"Rich kid?"  
  
"Yep! Borderline 'politician's daughter' sort of kid. Did you know that she-!" April spent about fifteen minutes just going on about the girl, named Anna, and her ineptitude with handling basic housework. All throughout her rant, her southern accent got thicker and thicker until her natural accent was finally shining completely through. You had to admit, it was pretty cute. You learned quite a bit about April: She was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, her family wasn't exactly destitute, but they were pretty close to it. She grew up with a dog named "Felicia" but had to leave it with her family when she moved out. She now owned a happy, little milk snake named Gabriela. She found it hilarious when you mentioned that your roommate's first name was Gabriel. Finally, she talked about how she didn't really have that much experience in voice acting, which surprised you. She'd been in theatre since middle school and throughout college, and had been a professional singer for two years; performing at bars and the like. The two of you must have talked for about an hour and a half before April said that she had to get back to work. After a sad goodbye, you hung up the phone. Gabe immediately came out of the other room.  
  
"I. Heard. Everything! Damn Micah, you flirt hard!" He announced loudly. Immediately, you threw the couch cushion at him.  
  
"You were listening!?"  
  
"Remember, I have a phone in my room that's connected to this phone. Did you forget that I have my agent who always wants to know when the next page of my comic is finished. He calls everyday, Mic. You should know this by now." He stated, raising an eyebrow at you while picking up the cushion from the floor.  
  
"Yeah sure, but it's still rude!" You retorted, grabbing the cushion from his hand and dumping it back onto the couch.  
  
"You never had a proper love life, so I have to get involved! I'm your little helper, remember?"  
  
"Little is far from it. You're more like the annoying angel and devil that appears on people's shoulders in cartoons," you laughed. After you'd come out as bi, your group of friends had been nothing but supportive. You didn't really have that much interest in relationships throughout your life. Sure, you'd dated now and again and you'd had two stable relationships, but they ended up leaving you because you weren't serious enough for them. Were you just too goofy? Who knows, you definitely took some things seriously, just not really relationships.  
  
"Uh...Mic? You're spacing out again."  
  
"Huh? Sorry, I was thinking back on my previous relationships."  
  
"So you _**were**_ thinking about a potential relationship with April!" He said, pointing at you as if to say "AHA!" in an overly exaggerated manner.  
  
"Maybe? I don't even know if she pitches for my team or not. We'll see, okay? I'll let you know if anything happens," you responded. The thought of going out with April was a genuinely nice idea.  
  
"I've gotcha covered!" Gabe clicks his tongue to emphasize his eagerness and you slapped your forehead with the palm of your hand.  
  
The rest of the day went on as normal and you turned on the radio to listen to some music before finally falling asleep. The next morning, the minute you woke up, you rushed to the phone to dial Erica. After putting in the long-distance information, the signature ringing tone played in your ear. You anxiously waited while the phone gently rang. Finally, you heard a click on the other end.  
  
"Uh...Hello?" A voice asked.  
  
"Erica, I have so much to tell you about today!"  
  
"Wait...Mic? Is that you?" Erica's voice sounded exhausted, and you immediately began to feel a twinge of regret for calling her.  
  
"Is...now a bad time, E?" You asked cautiously.  
  
"No Gollum, what's new?" She responded, managing a laugh. You laughed a little in return.  
  
"Nothing much, Salami...except, maybe...OH YEAH _**I'M VOICING BENDY!**_ "  
  
" _ **WHAT!?**_ " She nearly screamed into the phone, nearly sending you into a fit of laughter. "YOU HAVE TO TELL ME EVERYTHING! WHAT HAPPENED!? The last time you called me was just after the auditions!"  
  
"Oh, you are not going to believe this!" You took a long time to explain to her exactly how things went. From the letter, to the meeting, to Mood, and to your conversation with April. You did a pretty good job of recapping, if you do say so yourself. "So, what do you think of that?"  
  
"That's wicked! You're so lucky, Mic! I remember when you were obsessed with that show! Good times!" She exclaimed enthusiastically. A warm feeling washed over you, as this was probably the most happy she'd been in a long time.  
  
"Yup! I'm nervous though, the first day is tomorrow and we're doing a bunch of lines for the pilot episode."  
  
"I'm sure you'll do great! You have the talent for it! Let me know what happens! I have some exams to get done, but I'm free next week on Wednesday if you want to talk!"  
  
"Definitely! We have Mondays and Tuesdays off, so I should be good to call you then. How are things over there?" You asked. There was a pause before Erica spoke.  
  
"Not well, I'm afraid. I've been stressing out so much over my studies that I've barely had the opportunity to sleep as of late. I mean, it's probably worth it, it's just really intense right now," her voice lowered significantly. "It's times like this that I wish Patrick were here."  
  
"Hey, don't talk like that. You know he's there in spirit, E." She didn't respond. "You've got this."  
  
"Yeah...I guess," Erica replied halfheartedly. "At least I've gotten the language down by now."  
  
"Ooo! Say something cool!" Erica responded with a few words that you had no idea what they meant. It sounded cool, though. "Rad!"  
  
"Yeah, sure. You keep being a loser, okay Gollum? Don't change on me, you hear?"  
  
"You got it, Salami Boobs!" You responded cheerfully, earning more laughter from Erica before she said goodbye and hung up. You gently put the phone on the hook.  
  
"Something's up..." Gabe stated ominously. You jumped a meter high into the air.  
  
"Don't scare me like that, you ass!" You punched his shoulder weakly. "You were listening again?"  
  
"Of course, it's E. I worry," he responded, eyes completely serious. "She sounded almost desperate for the laugh, did you notice that?" You realized what he meant, and you nodded gently. "I hope she's not going through that again."  
  
"She might be. I mean, we aren't exactly there for her. For all I know, she could be back at it again."  
  
"Oh no, now I'm even more worried..." Gabe started to bite the edges of his fingernails. Memories flashed through your mind as you remembered the bright red and blue lights, the sirens, and a young Erica, covered in blood, barely breathing, and eyes glazed over, being loaded into an ambulance. You remembered calling Gabe, him and his father picking you up, driving to the hospital, and hearing that Erica might not make it through the night because of how deep she had ripped into her wrists with the nail file. You shuddered violently at the memories.  
  
"Erica wouldn't put us through that again. She wouldn't do that when all this good stuff has been happening. She's not like that." Tears started to make their way down your face. Gabe's eyes softened and he pulled you into a tight hug. "Erica wouldn't do that! She loves us too much!"  
  
The two of you stood like that for a solid minute before you finally collapsed to the ground, sobbing at the terrifying memories. Gabe never let go and, eventually, he was crying with you and offering words of comfort. So many emotions swept through the both of you before the two of you managed to calm down.  
  
"I have to go to work soon, but I'll be off around 4pm today and then I'll be working on my comic. If you need anything today, just call me or come bother me in my room. I'll be happy to beat your ass in Super Smash Bros again. Don't make me break out the Nintendo 64!" You found yourself laughing at Gabe's little challenge.  
  
"You're on, Turtleneck!"  
  
"Oh come on! That joke is old!" More banter was thrown between you two before Gabe finally bid you adieu to go to work.  
  
You found yourself alone most of the day. Satiating your boredom, you blasted the radio while aggressively cleaning up the apartment to try and repress the ghosts of the past. You put away the clean dishes, put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, without turning it on of course, vacuumed, organized your room, avoided Gabe's broom closet of a room like the plague, tidied up the shelves, and overall made the apartment practically pristine. By the time you'd finished, it was around 2pm, and you had some time to kill.  
  
A thought crossed your mind.  
  
You picked up the phone, dialed in the numbers, and waited.  
  
"Hiya!" A chipper voice answered.  
  
"Hey April, want to do something today? I'm completely bored!"  
  
"Why, sure! Whaddaya -ahem!- what did you have in mind?" She corrected herself, southern accent shining like the sun.  
  
"Um...there's a movie called Zoolander that came out recently. I heard it's pretty good. Want to go see it then talk about it at a café or something afterwards?"  
  
"Alright, sounds like a date!" April laughed. Your face turned red as you realized that you actually _had_ asked her on a date. It was completely unintentional, but you weren't complaining. "Where do you live?" You told her your location. "Oh wow! You actually aren't that far from me! If you want, I can pick you up!"  
  
"You sure? I mean, it would be crazy helpful but if it's too much trou-"  
  
"Oh, don't be silly! It's no trouble! I'm always happy to get out of the house!" April's enthusiasm was infectious. "I'll be at your place a little before 4pm! 'Kay?"  
  
"Okay! See you then!"  
  
"Bye!" You heard the click as she hung up. A huge smile was still plastered on your face. That girl could probably even make Erica happy.  
  
Time passed and you heard the doorbell rang. By now, you had changed into a clean shirt and jeans. Grabbing your nice jacket, you slipped it on quickly. Finally feeling spiffy, you opened the door to find April in the cutest little get-up you'd ever seen. She had a navy blue pencil skirt on, a pretty, low-cut pale pink blouse with frills along the collar, and an immaculate white short jacket over it. Her blonde hair was gently pulled to her right side and pinned. Green eyes met yours happily. The only thing that was distinctly out of place were her shoes. They were almost like black galoshes. The mere sight of them confused you deeply. April followed your gaze and timidly looked away.  
  
"The shoes I was going to wear were really dirty, no thanks to my roomie. Everything else was extremely tacky with the getup. I don't think cowboy boots would have gone with this outfit, or sneakers for that matter...sorry."  
  
"Oh, it's no problem! I think your outfit looks cute!" You said quickly, April's eyes lit up.  
  
"Really?!"  
  
"Yeah! It looks really nice!" You remarked.  
  
"Thank you! I wanted to dress up a little. I only have a few of the 'fancy' type of outfits. I'm normally just a blue jeans and blouse type of gal!" April turned away slightly. "So, are we headin' to the movies or what?" You laughed a little in response.  
  
"I'm coming, keep your shoes on!"  
  
Overall, the "date" went well! The two of you had an enjoyable time at the movies, and you both had a huge discussion about the movie afterwards while eating an early dinner. April was a _passionate_ speaker and had clearly gotten enveloped in the movie magic. It was a lot of fun to listen to her ramble about the movie. Not many people were this entertaining. Her expressions were so intense that it was clear exactly why she'd been picked to voice a cartoon character. The amount of energy she had could very easily be pulled over into the cartoon world. Just being around her made you want to like her. Before you knew it, it was around 9pm at night, and you and April were standing in front of your apartment door.  
  
"Thanks for the ride! I had a whole lot of fun today!" You exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, no sweat! Thanks for inviting me out today! I couldn't stand being with little miss rich gal one more minute. You saved me a day of pain, hun!" April remarked, laughing a little.  
  
"Well, I have to be getting inside. We've both got a big day tomorrow and I think we both need a good night's sleep," you stated. April gave a firm nod.  
  
"I know. Lots of work and lots of fun!" She practically cheered that last one, adding in a little pump of her fist. "You have an amazing night, Micah!"  
  
"You can call me Mic, if you want."  
  
"Hmm? As in M-i-k-e?" She asked.  
  
"No, M-i-c. It's a little inside joke since I'm behind a microphone most of the time," you replied. Smiling inwardly at the origin of that little joke.  
  
"That's cute! Well, see you tomorrow Mic! Sleep well!" She sang out, practically skipping off back to her car. You waved as she pulled out of the apartment parking lot and drove off.  
  
Now alone, you entered the apartment complex, only to be greeted by Gabe.  
  
"You went on a date...and you didn't _**TELL ME!?**_ "  
  
"You don't need to know about my love life," you replied nonchalantly, earning a groan from Gabe.  
  
"But it's fuuuuuuuun, and you rarely go out with people other than me and Erica! Let me have a little fun! I'm always stuck in a work zone, I get bored, you know!?" Gabe rambled. The two of you went back and forth for a little while before finally spilling to Gabe about the "juicy details" of the "date". It was a little past 10pm by the time you'd finished and Gabe let you off the hook to head to bed. You threw off your clothes, took a shower, brushed your teeth, had some water, and slipped yourself into bed. After staring at the ceiling for half an hour, just laying on the bed, you felt the gentle numbness of sleep begin to embrace you softly. You allowed yourself to drift.  
  
Tomorrow was going to be a big day.  
  
\------  
  
_Thud._  
  
Ow...  
  
Your eyes fluttered open to find yourself with your back on the floor and the blanket partially tied around your left leg. Pain shot up your spine, and you instinctively turn on your side and curled up. It was a few minutes until you shot up from your comfy spot on the floor, an angry throbbing greeting you as it whipped into your back. What time was it? Why did you have a feeling you were late? Where was Gabe? Wouldn't he have woken you if you were late? Then again, you never told him when you were supposed to go. You stared at the clock.  
  
_**6:12am**_  
  
You released the breath you were holding and scratched the back of your head. You didn't even have to leave the house until 7:30am, plenty of time to get ready. Dragging yourself to the wardrobe, you picked out a clean pair of denim jeans as well as a lovely long-sleeved orange and black striped sweater. You slipped on a comfortable t-shirt underneath before pulling the sweater over your head. Very festive. After brushing your hair, you grabbed the brown bag as well as your papers for work, left the room and made your way into the kitchen, immediately being hit by the smell of cooking.  
  
"Micah! You're up!" Gabe exclaimed. You made a mental note that you'd known him for so long, that a blue frilly apron with white polka dots on Gabe was nothing new to you. You gave him a tired hello. "I made hash-browns, sausages, and eggs. Big day, big breakfast!" He slipped two fried eggs onto your plate as he placed it by your seat. You sat down as he served up his own eggs and set it down on the place next to yours. He quickly cleaned up the frying pan, set it in its proper spot, and then joined you in eating your breakfast. "You nervous?"  
  
"Very," you responded; mouth full of sausage.  
  
"Don't talk with a weenie in your mouth!" He exclaimed. Leading to you almost spitting your sausage out from laughing. The two of you had a good breakfast while cracking jokes here and there. Gabe kindly picked up the dishes and put them in the dishwasher before doing some last little bits of cleaning. You quietly waited by the front door while staring into space and fiddling with the latch on your bag. You heard him grab his keys before entering the room.  
  
"I didn't know your work let you wear kid's aprons," you remarked nonchalantly.  
  
"Ugh!" He groaned and quickly untied the apron strings. "Also, it's not a kid's apron. I just like the polka dots."  
  
"Yeah, sure. It was sixty percent off and you know it. Just because it's on sale, doesn't mean you need it."  
  
"Shut up, Mic!" You both laughed before entering the car and driving off.  
  
The building you were now headed to was in a different location than the meeting. You were actually going to get to see the new and improved "Joey Drew Studios". From what April had mentioned during the meeting, it was supposed to be completely renovated. No wood floors left un-turned. The feeling of excitement rose in your chest and you could barely keep still, brimming with anticipation. You began picturing how it would look like, all while the person in the car next to you noticed your stares. The person questioned if you were okay before the light turned green and the person quickly sped off; not wanting to stay for the strange individual staring at nothing.  
  
You arrived at the location much too slowly. Gabe was laughing as you practically tore off your seat-belt and nearly kicked his car door open. Gabe yelled a quick goodbye as you ran into the building. You didn't even hear him pulling out of the parking lot.  
  
Your eyes were filled with wonder as you looked around the area.  
  
"Hello? Are you expected?" A small voice called out from the desk you had just passed. Turning back, you were face-to-face with a petite young lady, probably no older than seventeen years of age.  
  
"Yeah! I'm one of the voice actors." You replied, trying so hard to hide your urge to get away and explore. It had been over a decade since you'd seen the old studio, and you wanted to see how it looked now that it was completely different.  
  
"Would you mind signing in, please?" She asked, pushing a clipboard towards you timidly. You nodded before bending over and signing your name plus the time you came in. The girl peeked over and her eyes widened. "Y-y-you're the new voice of Bendy!"  
  
"I know, it's crazy!" You exclaimed right back, the excitement spilling out of your system. "I'm so excited!"  
  
"Oh geez, could I sometime have your autograph? It's not every day that I get to meet someone famous!" Her eyes were utterly glittering with pure joy.  
  
"Sure! I've got to get to work though. Talk to you later!" You sprinted off, leaving the kid behind in a happy daze.  
  
The studio now had carpet flooring as well as proper walls instead of the wooden boards that you'd seen before. Peeking at the map you'd been giving back at the meeting, you started making your way through the maze-like hallways. You passed by a group of people in a room figuring out who gets what drawing board, a room where Aaron Landon was speaking to a few orchestra or band members or something, a few more rooms of varying levels of significance, and then you found the recording studio. Upon entering, you were blown away.  
  
There were rows upon rows of foam around the room. Along with a smaller, "mini-room" where there were a few microphones hanging from the ceiling along with a few stands for scripts. April was already there, outside of the mini-room, organizing her things. She looked up when she heard the door close, and squealed.  
  
"MICAH!" You immediately found yourself in April's embrace, and you gave her the biggest possible hug back. "Isn't this place crazy!?"  
  
"Totally! It's so different from how it used to be! It's all high-tech and new!" Your brain could barely function with the level of excitement you were feeling.  
  
"I'm _so_ excited! This is going to be the best job ever!" April jumped up and down a few times before calming down. "Hoo boy, I have to have a drink!" While April grabbed her water bottle, the door opened to reveal Harvey, the person who'd gotten the voice of Boris. He, too, froze in wonderment as he stared at the room.  
  
"If I'd known that this is where I'd be working, I wouldn't have been so scared to come!" It was the first time you'd actually heard him speak. It wasn't too hard to imagine him deepening his voice slightly to fit your image of how Boris sounded.  
  
"What do you mean by that? Were you scared of the studio?" You asked, puzzled by Harvey's remark.  
  
"Yeah, kids at my school used to call this place haunted. I think that's just because the building's old. My brother dragged me here more than enough times to instill a healthy dose of fear in me. Strange voices and noises always had us running away."  
  
"Oh, that's just a bunch of urban legends!" April remarked, gesturing in such a way to emphasize how silly it was.  
  
"I don't know, I used to hear some creepy things about this place too. My parents always told me to never go near here. People apparently died." April's demeanor immediately dropped into an expression of worry. She glanced around as if there could be a spirit coming through the wall right that instant. "Although, it's been rebuilt. They probably did some kind of cleanup. You don't leave dead bodies in an animation studio."  
  
"Yeah, you're right!" April said quickly, still nervously looking around. Awkward silence descended on the room as you patiently waited for someone to come and tell you what to do.  
  
"Hello? Am I in the right place?" A young man entered the room with a button-up black shirt as well as black jeans. His short brown hair was side-swept to his right side and he carried a large backpack. He reminded you of the theatre students that you'd seen in college.  
  
"If you're a voice actor, nope, that's down the rest of the hallway," you stated slyly.  
  
"But there's no...wait...hang on..." The kid caught you. "This is the last door of the hallway! There's no more!"  
  
"Yeah, I'm just messing with you!" You laughed hard at your little prank, the kid had almost fallen for it. "Name's Mic!"  
  
He paused for a moment. "Oh, I know who you are, you're the voice of Bendy. I think everyone know's you." You raised an eyebrow. "Also, Mike? I though it was Micah?"  
  
"Mic's my nickname, since I'm behind the microphone most of the time."  
  
"Oh! As in M-i-c! I get it!" He replied, the revelation causing him to laugh a little.  
  
"Aren't you a little young? Are you still in school?" You asked.  
  
"Nope! Just graduated last May and I'm not ready for college yet!" He responded cheerfully. So this kid was around eighteen? So young!  
  
"Wow, you're still six years younger than me!" You chuckled slightly. He fumed.  
  
"Hey! I can still voice act with the greats! Why do you think I got to be Charley?"  
  
"So you're Mickey Iger?" You asked.  
  
"Yup! The one and only!" He brushed off some imaginary dust on his shirt. You couldn't help but laugh at his self-assurance, and be slightly envious.  
  
"Am I the oldest one here?" You turned to stare at Harvey. "I'm thirty-two."  
  
"Yeah, probably," You responded.  
  
"I'm twenty-three!" April chirped up.  
  
You all began remarking about each other's ages before the voice actors of Barley and Edgar joined the group. It turned out that Harvey truly was the oldest. After the six of you had been talking for a while, you stood up from the chair you'd been sitting in and walked over to your bag to get some of the paperwork out to read. Upon opening the top of the bag, you found something odd.  
  
Sitting lightly on top of everything, was a yellow sticky note with the words **Who are you?** scrawled on it with what looked like an ink pen.  
  
...  
  
What?  
  
"Hey, who put this in my bag?" You asked while standing up from the chair. The other actors ceased their speaking and turned to face you and the note. Steadily, you walked over to the group and showed them the note more clearly. Everyone had the same look: confusion.  
  
April let out a nervous laugh. "Now see here Mic, you're just trying to scare us with that!" She turned to the others. "We were talking about how we'd heard rumors that this place was haunted. Mic's just messing with us...right?" She turned expectantly at you, but you had nothing to give her but a puzzled look. The color drained from her face.  
  
"This place is not haunted." Everybody jumped up to see Mood, himself, entering the room. "People died, yes, but rest assured that there are no specters, things that go bump in the night, or anything of that sort." You noticed him mumble something inaudible under his breath; presumably about how silly everyone was. "Did anyone bring their paperwork?" He asked, as if nobody had even finished their work. He was pleasantly surprised when everyone pulled out their paperwork, completed, and handed them to him in neat, stapled, piles. "Well then, looks like not _everyone _is as incompetent as the animators." You felt a pang of annoyance as you remembered how much Gabe wanted to take animation in college. "Regardless, you will be working with me for the next month to finish the pilot episode. If we get green-lit, then we will all be working very closely together for the next six months. I warn you, I am expecting stellar results from you. If we get the okay from the higher-ups, then you will all be payed higher than your current minimalistic stipend."  
  
The way he spoke sounded so condescending, as if he was dealing with a group of misbehaving children. It sent a pit of anger to boil in your stomach, but you quietly stood there, taking his speech.  
  
"I will be pushing you to your limit, but keep in mind that you have a contract. You read what was expected of you, and you signed your name at the bottom." From how everyone was standing, and the way that Mood kept pacing up and down the line of actors, you would think that he was a general giving his soldiers a speech before a battle. "This is no ordinary job, you are selling your souls...to me," he made direct eye contact with you. You stubbornly glared right back at him. Mood turned away from you and approached the booth, where a person, who you hadn't seen previously, sat. He must have entered the room while you were focusing on Mood. "You have five minutes to be in the recording room!"  
  
Everyone scrambled to grab their water bottles and you ran back to your bag to grab your own. Opening the latch, to your horror, there was another yellow sticky note; **Who are you?** once again staring right at you. Your heart stopped for a second as you quickly looked at the crumpled note in your hand with the same words. A chill went down your spine.  
  
A ghost?  
  
Making a silly decision, you took out a pen and wrote a reply under the words. **"The name's Micah."** You scribbled the words quickly and ran into the booth.  
  
Recording was a completely different experience than outside the booth. Mood's attitude and demeanor had changed completely, and you were questioning if it was even the same person. The pilot episode had a huge amount of lines to voice. It made sense since the pilot was technically two episodes in one. Establishing all the characters with a creative plot, witty dialogue, and cleverly written comedy. You mentally gave whoever wrote it a silent thank you. At least you weren't working on a reboot that you already knew was going to go downhill. It made things more bearable. Everyone handled their lines wonderfully, and you were surprised to find that April and Harvey had beautiful voices. The same sentiment went to the Butcher gang. It almost made you feel inadequate with how you were doing Bendy. You ended up having to re-read your lines multiple times before Mood was satisfied with them. Eventually, your water ran out from how many times you drank from it, but you were too nervous about Mood to even ask. Despite your earlier defiance, the man terrified you.  
  
"Micah, you need to re-fill your water..." Mood commented through the microphone. It took you a moment before you realized that he was speaking to you. You were used to hearing "Mic", not "Micah".  
  
"Sorry," you said quickly.  
  
"Alright everyone, take five," Mood stated, earning a sigh of relief from the other cast members. Everyone left the recording room to re-fill their respective waters. While passing by the chairs in the larger room, you glanced over at your bag, noticing that the top was unlatched. Gnawing curiosity ate away at your mind and you hurriedly filled your water bottle at the water fountain.  
  
"You don't have to keep tapping your foot, Mic. The water fills up quickly, you know?" April commented, not knowing the circumstances of your hurry.  
  
"Sorry, Mood just scares me."  
  
"You'll get used to it. I've worked with worse," Harvey remarked, his eyes staring off into a distant memory.  
  
"Not taking any chances," you replied curtly and power-walked back into the main room. You bee-line it to the bag and nearly tear the top off.  
  
...  
  
No way.  
  
**Nice to meet ya, toots!**  
  
This had to be some kind of sick joke...but then again, you hadn't seen anyone else enter the room, or anyone else near your bag at all. Shaking, you took out your pen yet again, and replied.  
  
**Nice to meet you too.**  
  
Mood couldn't have called for the break to end any sooner.  
  
\------  
  
"Hey Mic...uh...are you okay?" Gabe's faced morphed into concern as soon as he saw how pale you were. You said nothing as you sat down in the car, closed the door, and buckled your seat-belt. He gave you a long look as you stared at your shoes; pretending to study them. He shifted his car, drove backwards for a moment, before shifting back into drive and hurrying out from the parking lot.  
  
There was about fifteen minutes of complete and total silence. The colour still wasn't returning to your face. Gabe kept glancing at you with a worried look on his face, as if asking what the hell happened, but you couldn't meet his gaze. You released a breath you didn't even realize that you'd been holding. The anxiety and fear was still gripping you tightly, stubbornly refusing to let go.  
  
The minute you and Gabe got back to the apartment complex and through the door, Gabe slammed the door behind you. "Okay, Mic, you're killing me right now. What the flying hell is wrong with you?! You veg out the entire car ride, not talking, not staring out the window, not doing _anything_. You _have_ to tell me what's wrong. I can't take this. You're acting like Erica!" He was fuming, clenching his fists, tears in his eyes...he didn't even know.  
  
You quietly unlatched your bag and walked to the kitchen table with Gabe following close behind in confusion. Turning the bag over, you dumped the contents onto the table. Gabe's eyes widened in horror as he finally understood.  
  
...  
  
Hundreds of them.  
  
Hundreds of yellow sticky notes with various words scribbled in ink were written down along with your penned responses. Gabe gently pawed around at a few of them.  
  
**Do you know the creator?**  
  
**Who?**  
  
**You're beautiful.**  
  
**Thank you?**  
  
**Stop talking to the creator.**  
  
**Who is the creator?**  
  
**Stop it.**  
  
**You're scaring me.**  
  
**SͅT͎̺̰͍̣͍̫̜̬O҉͙̟͓͇͓̠̫̬̠P͖̝̭ͅ ̷̭̞̙̥̤̬̝͎̫͢T̙̥͓͙͙̙͈͜͜A͏҉͍̯̠̮̠Ḻ̳͔͘͢K̙͓͙͚̤̝͚̹͘I̫̟̙͖̩͇͕͜͢N̡͠͏͔̠͖̝̬G̵̷̯͕͔̮͈͟ ͏̨̟̤͎̘͙͠Ț̣̖̰͓͉̯͘̕O̥̻̭̣͍̻̟͠͠ ̘̝̞̙̙͍̭͓̖Ţ͙Ḫ̤̼͍̩͓̯͝E͞҉̪̥̞̝ ̛͍̳̪C͉̠̗̤͈͉͖̘͟͡R͉͟Ę̞̥̣͍̜̰̪̺A̛̟̭͔̰͕T̵͈̬̳̙̘̬̬͘͢O̤̺͎̻̹͉R̸̗̜̟͇͙̥ͅ!̢̹͔͔͜**  
  
Gabe jumped at the last card he read. Giving you a terrified expression. The final card had drips and smears of ink all over it, as if someone had angrily used an old-fashioned ink pen to stab the paper like the person they absolutely despised the most. Gabe took one look at you, and you burst into tears. Gabe rushed over and gave you a tight hug; the two of you eventually falling to the floor. Eventually, you let yourself sob violently into Gabe's shoulder. The entire apartment felt safer than the horror you'd gone through that entire day. You'd even brought it up with Mood, who had absolutely no idea what you were talking about. You'd shared it with the others, but nobody knew what to make of it. The entire afternoon had you and the other voice actors in a cloud of fear, constantly peeking over towards your bag to see if anything had changed. Of course, it had always shifted slightly. When the work day finally finished, everyone bolted to grab their things and run; dreading the fact that they had to return the next day. You were the only one who had gotten the notes, nobody else. What were you going to do?  
  
You were eventually guided by Gabe into your room to go to sleep. He sat outside your bathroom door while you rinsed yourself and performed the rest of your nightly ritual; quietly sobbing the entire time. You came out with your eyes completely red from crying. You gave him another hug.  
  
"Hey, listen, I can sleep in here tonight if it'll make you feel better." You nodded gently. "Okay, let me go get my stuff." He gave you one final look before leaving the room.  
  
You sat down on your bed and let out a distressed and shaky sigh. Gabe quickly returned with a pillow and a blanket and tossed them onto the floor. He gave you one more sympathetic look and a squeeze of your hand before flopping onto his back, his head hitting the pillow hard. You heard a thud. "Ow..." He heard you laughing and a wide grin spread on his face. You nestled into your bed and tried your best to sleep. Remembering all the notes caused a shiver of terror to spike through your body; the hope that it was just some sick prank providing you a small source of comfort. You finally managed to find sleep with that reassuring thought.  
  
\------  
  
"Come on, Mic, we have to get going," Gabe mumbled. You had barely managed to get out of bed that morning, and the thought of breakfast made you physically ill. Dragging yourself to the door with your bag, you quietly made eye contact with Gabe before heading out to the car. He returned your gaze with a waterfall of sympathy. After you got to the car, Gabe shut the door on the one place that you'd felt safe in.  
  
Your performance and health suffered the entire rest of the week. You were extremely relieved when Monday and Tuesday finally came and you didn't have to go back to the studio of horror. Thankfully, nothing happened on Sunday, but the fear of seeing the new yellow notes nagged at the back of your mind. You could barely focus on your lines, leading to a very agitated Mood. April looked like she wanted to approach you, but held back, thinking that you wanted to be left alone.  
  
You didn't want to be alone.  
  
You barely had the energy to call Erica that Tuesday night. Gabe was forced to speak to her about the entire situation, leading to Erica giving you a huge hug over the phone. You dreaded having to return to the new and improved "Joey Drew Studios". You dreaded the idea of seeing those notes again. You dreaded having to be around Robert Mike Mood another day of your life. You dreaded the thought of someone watching you, watching when you wrote on the notes, watching you when you were recording. The very thought of that place sent you into a panic. You spent most of the week in that state, that is, until you woke up Saturday morning.  
  
Then it hit you.  
  
No notes showed up on Sunday, or even the rest of the week.  
  
...  
  
Relief shot through your whole body. They only appeared on the first day of work. It had to be some kind of prank! There weren't any more notes! You were terrified of a stalker for nothing! It _was_ just a stupid prank! You started laughing while tears started running down your face.  
  
"Mic!? What's wrong? Why are you doing that!? Do I need to take you to the hos-?"  
  
You turned quickly to face Gabe, nearly grabbing onto his shoulders. That might have sent you flying off the high-way if you'd done that. Thankfully, you restrained yourself.  
  
"There was never anyone! The notes were a prank!" You almost screamed in his face. Gabe gave you a long look before going back to concentrating on the road. You both rode the rest of the way in silence. You were still breathing heavily, giggling, and crying. Clearly in no condition to go to work, you got out of the car anyway, waved goodbye to Gabe vigorously, and ran inside.  
  
"You're a mess!" The young girl by the front, who you now knew as Rachel, exclaimed.  
  
You slammed your hands onto the desk, leading to her jumping at the violence. "Remember those notes I got last Saturday?!" She nodded fearfully. "It was a prank! It wasn't real! I got _so_ paranoid for nothing!" Clearly, you were momentarily insane. Finally, you took a deep breath. "I haven't had a good week. I'll just sign in and head to the bathroom." Rachel gave you a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before you sprinted off to the bathroom.  
  
You must have spent the past five minutes just washing your face and trying to calm down. The relief was washing over you, just like the water dripping off your face. You stared in the mirror for a moment, thinking about how much of a wreck you'd been the past few days. You could barely think coherently. All the memories were just too garbled. You gripped the sides of the mirror and breathed out, "Those. Notes. Meant. Nothing."  
  
_**THUD!**_  
  
You immediately turned your head towards the ceiling and turned off the faucet to the sink.  
  
Creaking, groaning, a hiss, and a light thump.  
  
Then silence.  
  
...  
  
You coughed.  
  
Everything fell down around you as the ceiling collapsed in a heap of dust, plaster, and ceiling fluff. You found yourself coughing up a storm and your eyes shut tight to prevent anything from flying into them. When the mess finally settled, you opened your eyes.  
  
...  
  
...  
  
Right in front of you, exactly like he appeared in the cartoons, was the "Little Devil Darlin'" himself.  
  
Bendy sheepishly rubbed the back of his nonexistent neck, giving a weak wave with the other gloved hand. His face was turning a dark grey and he let out an awkward chuckle.  
  
"Uh...hiya, toots?"  
  
You blacked out.  
  
__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a week of solid proof-reading, writing, character development, and multiple nights staying up until around 2am to finish specific sections! Hooo! It's worth it though for that payoff. I hope you guys enjoy it. I can't guarantee that I'll update often, but I'll try to keep it at a steady "less than two weeks" to update. Leave kudos if you enjoyed it and a comment. Maybe one of my inspirations will read this! At least, I hope they do.  
> Moi moi!


	2. Falling Down Into Recording Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cartoons can't come into reality. You're clearly hallucinating. This can't be real, can it? Can it? Oh no...it's real. It's really real. Of course. Note to self: Have yourself committed when you finish the pilot episode.

There were voices. They echoed gently in the cloudiness of your mind. Everything was in a numbingly pleasant haze...and it felt wonderful.  
  
Were you dead?  
  
Maybe.  
  
You could feel the curtain of unconsciousness slipping away. You desperately stretched your hands out to try and grasp back on to it. No! Not yet! You weren't ready to go back so soon! You reached out in a panic, terrified of losing that warm and comforting feeling. Finally, your hand ran through something somewhat akin to when your hand touched blood for the first time, but with a far more chemical smell to it.  
  
Like the ink in a sharpie.  
  
In the darkness, you heard a man speak softly in a soothing voice.  
  
"He will set us free..."  
  
You were dragged away screaming. Away from the void. Away from comfort. Away from it all, and plunged into the painful world of reality once again.  
  
\------  
  
"Micah, do you hear me?"  
  
You became aware of the bright light shining directly onto your lids, and you squinted; instinctively bringing your hand up to cover your eyes. After a moment, you managed to force them open, drinking in your surroundings. Sitting in front of you was an uncharacteristically worried Robert Mike Mood. His eyebrows pointed slightly upward in a concerned expression, causing wrinkles to form on his forehead. Puzzled, you furrowed your own eyebrows.  
  
"Where am I?" You asked.  
  
"The first-aid room. Rachel just finished up patching your arms and head. The ceiling caved in on you quite terribly. In fact, your arms were bleeding more than anticipated. Are you anemic?"  
  
"Slightly, yes." You responded, noticing the multitude of band-aids on your arms with a single larger one on your right elbow. You must have scraped it on something. "Not much iron in my diet, sadly."  
  
Mr. Mood leans in uncomfortably close to you, and you instinctively recoil in surprise. He speaks in a very grave tone. "Did you see anything when the ceiling fell?" You pause for a moment as the memory of Bendy's grey face immediately flashed in your mind.  
  
You furrow your eyebrows again before returning Mood's intense stare. "No, nothing at all sir."  
  
"I know your face, do not lie to me. That is the exact face I made, once."  
  
Where was he going with this?  
  
"You saw him."  
  
You froze. You definitely couldn't hide your shock at him seeing straight through your lie. He stood up and moved the dark green curtain that had been concealing part of the room to you.  
  
Sitting on a sick-bed next to you, was Bendy.  
  
It was a combination of seeing a cartoon and seeing a person. It felt so strange and foreign to you. Your mind flashed back to the "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" movie. It truly was like looking at a living cartoon. The very air around him seemed to vibrate, as though his presence were ripping the air apart to have him inside it. He seemed to be breathing, as you saw his chest rise and fall, but at the same time...did he even have lungs?  
  
Bendy looked away from your pondering stares in embarrassment. Behind him, you noticed a tail twitching back and forth.  
  
"Hold on, Bendy never had a tail in the cartoons!" You exclaimed. Mood laughed for a moment.  
  
"Bendy, why don't you show why that is?" You hadn't heard Mr. Mood ever speak so lovingly to someone. It was as if he were speaking to his son from the level of warmth in his voice. He must have really cared about Bendy.  
  
"Sure thing, boss." Bendy replied, a particular stiffness to his voice. You made a mental note about the sound of his voice for your acting. Wait...what were you saying?! Before you could speak up, Bendy stood up on the bed and turned slightly off to the side; showing off the spade-tipped tail he had. Gradually, the tail began to shrink. It was like seeing a rope of spaghetti getting sucked up in the older cartoons. After a few moments, only the tip was left, which flattened against Bendy's body, turning virtually invisible to the untamed eye. He noticed your amazed face and grinned, reminding you of the perpetual smile that you saw Bendy with years ago, especially the cut outs. They were cute, but...still creepy. Bendy started staring off into space, daydreaming as you, once again, thought back on the old show as well as the decrepit workshop of the past. You decided to take this moment to study the toon. His tail had reformed and was currently occasionally twitching around. It reminded you of how a cat's tail would move about. He was quite small, potentially standing at only about a meter tall. Everything about him seemed solid and not solid at the same time. It was extremely difficult to explain. Bendy's head turned towards you, and he jumped slightly at how close you were. Mood laughed.  
  
"If you want to take a closer look, Micah, you may," he stated, earning a panicked look from Bendy. You spotted this out of the corner of your eye.  
  
"Are you sure? I mean, I'm okay with just-"  
  
"Nonsense, you're witnessing a living cartoon! I'd imagine that you have quite a few questions that you want answered." Mood's face was so different from how it typically looked. The stoic and cynical Mood was nowhere to be found. This Mood had a warm look in his eyes; particularly when he looked at Bendy. The realization that he probably just put up a front when it came to the actors hit you like a ton of bricks.  
  
Looking at Bendy was a different story. Bendy didn't look too comfortable around Mood, and tended to look more in your direction. It seemed that he found your presence more favorable than Mood's. You and Bendy made eye contact for a moment and he stared. In the end, you had to look away to preserve your sense of comfort. Bendy continued to stare, the silence eventually becoming too unbearable and you had to speak up.  
  
"See something you like?" You stated flatly, raising an eyebrow at Bendy. Without missing a beat, Bendy responds.  
  
"Yep! Everything!" Immediately, you remembered that this was exactly how you met Gabe, and you started laughing, earning perplexed looks from both the toon and your boss. "What's so funny?"  
  
"Sorry, that just reminded me of someone I know," you replied. "Uhh... you mind if I touch you? I'm just wondering, what are you even made of?" You lean forward again, and Bendy doesn't move.  
  
"Alright?" He responded, stiffening up as you reached out a hand. "Just don't touch the tips or the tail."  
  
You assumed that by "tips" he meant his horns, so you gently poked his shoulder. The sensation reminded you of poking a water balloon. He wasn't solid, but certainly not a liquid, and it definitely did not feel like touching a person. "Do you have a heart?" You immediately asked while along the thought of comparing Bendy to a human.  
  
"I dunno...far as I know, I'm just ink." He replied. Without really thinking about it, since you were so close anyway, you leaned down and pressed your ear against Bendy's chest, earning a yelp from him.  
  
You couldn't quite hear a proper heartbeat, but you definitely could hear a faint thump on occasion. Unlike a human heart, where you normally heard two beats of varying tones at a relatively noticeable volume, you only heard a single, very faint, thump every few seconds. Bendy's chest moved as if he were breathing, however, you couldn't hear any sound that would indicate that he actually _was_ breathing. It was almost like hearing something attempt to simulate breathing.  
  
Upon pulling away, you noticed a definite shade of grey spreading across his face. Unsure of what it meant, you shrugged it off. He appeared to be flustered, and you couldn't help but laugh. He looked up at you indignantly.  
  
"What's so funny!?" He exclaimed, tail thrashing furiously.  
  
"You look so worked up! You're like a little kid who's denying he took the last cookie."  
  
"I'm no kid! I'm a grown adult demon!" Bendy stood up on the sick-bed and pointed at himself with his thumb. The heart shape of his face morphed slightly, making it appear as if one eyebrow was lowered and the other one was raised. It looked funky since Bendy didn't actually have eyebrows. You ended up laughing. Bendy's face flared up once more. "Stop laughing at meeeeee!"  
  
You were almost crying now from laughing so hard. Bendy was like a stubborn child trying to act tough, but in the end just wound up looking like an angry kitten. Mood was even letting out a small chuckle at the whole ordeal. Bendy ignored him and instead focused on stomping his foot on the bed in protest. You didn't know what he said, but he somehow slipped and fell hard on his butt, leading to more hysterical laughter from you. Tears started streaking down your face as you gripped your sides and bent over. You hadn't laughed this hard in so long, it actually hurt. Bendy stood up from his fall and dusted himself off. Cartoonishly large dust clouds surrounded him for a moment before dissipating.  
  
"I am not going to stand here and be insulted! You're only supposed to laugh at me in the cartoons or if I make a joke..." he trailed off and you noticed that beads of black liquid were dribbling down the sides of his grey face, nearly covering the right side of his head. Mood seemed to watch with a sparkle of amusement in his eyes. It was pretty unnerving.  
  
"I'm sorry, but you can't say that what happened wasn't funny!" You remarked, still laughing. Bendy continued dripping with what you now assumed was ink and looking angry. You reached over and, forgetting what Bendy said earlier, gently pet the crook of his head between his horns. Bendy stiffened up in shock, his tail twitched and froze. For a moment, it looked like Bendy was ready to flee or, at the very least, recoil and slap your hand away. He instead relaxed and his eyes reached half-lid. You swore that you could hear a soft purring coming from his throat. His tail swished affectionately in your direction. You laughed inwardly as his feline-like behavior continued. You didn't even notice Mr. Mood standing up and walking out of the room.  
  
The drips of ink were fading away, and you could now see his half-lidded pie-cut eyes clearly again. This was too entertaining, and you decided to take this opportunity to mess with him again. Without him noticing, you brought your free hand up to his horns, and gave one a little rub.  
  
"Hah!" He let out a brief cry and shuddered before realizing what you had done and immediately pushed you away; his face a deep shade of grey as he covered his horns. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT!" He shrieked in a panic, voice cracking slightly with fangs bared. You forgot he even had them; recalling one or two cartoons where he did, in fact, have fangs. "Don't touch there! If I'd known I was dealing with a bearcat, I'd have-"  
  
"Bearcat? Excuse me?" You responded, tone raising.  
  
"Oh come on, as if some modern broad like you even knows what that is!" Bendy's hands dropped from his horns and he crossed his arms.  
  
"I had to go through a History of Film class to get my degree. We had a special course based around films from the 20s and 30s. I think I'm pretty damn familiar with the lingo of back then..." Bendy gave you a look of surprise, insultingly impressed.  
  
"Well then, dollface, what does 'applesauce' mean?" He queried, his signature smirk appearing on his face, but with half-lidded eyes. The ink demon was clearly mocking you.  
  
"It's essentially a swear word. Cut the bushwa, ink-bag." Bendy gasped dramatically and put a gloved hand on his chest.  
  
"Oh! You sting me with your words!" He laughed. "Looks like we got a live wire over here, audience. Watch out, this dame is no piker!" Bendy turns to you and gives you a look. Immediately, you get to your feet and pick Bendy up by his waist. He begins to flail angrily.  
  
"Oh come on, I can't take you seriously when you're only about three feet high." You stated, laughing a little as he banged his fists against your arms. He stopped and smirked, making direct eye contact with you.  
  
"What about if I were twice my size?" He asked, leading to you raising one eyebrow in confusion. "You heard me. What if I were twice my size?" He repeated.  
  
"Wait...what? In your dreams, you can't grow a whole 'nother three feet in one day."  
  
"Actually, he can."  
  
You dropped Bendy back onto the bed as Mood returned into the room, carrying several jars of black ink. "What?"  
  
"He feeds off of ink. The more ink in his system, the larger he can get. Back when my father visited the old workshop in the late 60s, Bendy practically got intoxicated off of the ink. Bendy's bitterness and anger towards Joey was then directed towards my father after the ink machine was turned on. The demon ruthlessly hunted him down in a drunken rage and eventually killed him." A chill ran down your spine from how cold the man sounded when saying the final two sentences. "If he doesn't absorb too much ink or get too angry, he can maintain his height without going insane."  
  
"Wait, he can turn into a monster if he just gets very angry?" You asked, remembering what happened when you saw half of Bendy's face covered with ink. Bendy sat with his legs in the butterfly position and with his hands propping him up from behind. His eyes were staring towards you, watching your reactions for what was coming next.  
  
"Yes and no. To clarify what I mean; Bendy can absorb the ink into his body to increase his size. Depending on the amount of ink in his body, it affects him similar to booze. If he doesn't have too much ink, it'll give him a pleasant buzz and it increases his height. If he has more than the amount needed to make him approximately six feet tall, he starts losing his inhibitions and begins to go insane, attacking anyone he gets annoyed by." You gave a nod in understanding, signalling him to go on. Bendy continued staring at you expectantly. "There's another thing though: Bendy isn't exactly a...'complete cartoon'...to put it simply. His emotions can be dangerous on occasion, that is if said emotions are primarily geared towards negativity. Emotions and attitudes such as revenge, anger, extreme jealousy, insanity, possessiveness, extreme regret, and the like; can all get him into this monstrous state. I would advise being delicate with his state of mind in those scenarios. I don't think we want everyone in this studio to be drowned in ink." He laughed at his little joke. You weren't even cracking the smallest possible smile.  
  
"So, he's not allowed to feel?"  
  
Mood furrowed his eyebrows. "Not entirely, I try and give him a more positive environment and keep him happy. I do my best to keep him as far away from negativity as possible and along with his companions. Thankfully they're better developed and don't turn into ink monsters when you-"  
  
"Hold on, what do you mean by 'companions'?!" Mood gave you a look for interrupting him. "There's _more_ of them?!"  
  
"Well, you certainly did not expect for it to be _only_ Bendy, did you?" He had a point. "As I was saying. The others are more...complete than Bendy. We do not have to worry about them going awry, thankfully. Bendy is the only one with that...quirk."  
  
For the first time, you saw Mood give Bendy a disapproving look. Bendy glared right back at him with balled fists. A part of you understood how he felt. You'd seen this exact situation unfold with Gabe and his father. The old man would constantly compare Gabe to his older brother and sister and ask why Gabe couldn't do things as well as his siblings. Gabe would have momentary fits of anger as a result of the constant berating. Mr. Olivares was a harsh man, and always held his son to a high standard. In the public eye, he took on the guise of a loving parent. However, Gabe never let anyone believe that and always alerted others with his body-language that no, he was not a loving father.  
  
He was a monster.  
  
The scene before you was exactly like what you saw with Gabe and you immediately formed a distrust for Mood. Thankfully, you could be a better actor than Gabe, and pretended to follow along with Mood.  
  
"Well, we all have our own quirks, but what matters is that we keep focused on the task at hand or our work. Right?" You drew the attention of Mood with that line, who gave you a small smile. Bendy, on the other hand, was staring at you in surprise.  
  
"You are correct, Micah. I believe I have delayed Bendy's little moment of showing off long enough. Here you are," Mood said and placed the ink bottles onto Bendy's sick-bed. "I'll leave you two be for a bit, I need to make sure the studio is empty." With that, he stood up and left the room. You took this moment to glance over at the clock.  
  
_**4:15pm**_  
  
You immediately searched for a phone and dialed Gabe's work place. It rang only for a few seconds before a familiar voice picked up.  
  
"Thank you for calling Borders; the best bookstore besides Barnes  & Noble. How can I satisfy your literary needs?"  
  
"Gabe, I'm going to be staying late at the studio tonight. Something big just sprung up..." You realized the irony of what you said, as you noticed Bendy downing an ink bottle with two empty ones beside him. He had already grown significantly taller.  
  
"Oh, okay! What, did something come up? Did the big cheese want you to do some more lines?" He asked. "I mean, you sound less mopey than you were the rest of the week, so it must be something good."  
  
"Yup! I think I'm finally getting more involved!" You exclaimed, continuing to stare at Bendy getting taller and taller.  
  
"Well, okay, just call the home phone when you need me to pick you up. My shift ends in about ten minutes, so I'll talk to you later. You got that, Gollum?"  
  
"Yeah, see you later, Turtleneck!" You hung up the phone quickly as you stared at the fully-grown Bendy in front of you.  
  
His entire form plunged the situation deep into the uncanny valley for you. He was proportioned correctly, but odd at the same time. It was like looking at a taller, slimmer version of his cartoon form. Probably, if you pictured him in pants and a hoodie, he would look far more normal. Right now, however, you had to fight the temptation to look down out of the curiosity if he had a human or cartoony d...never mind. He still had his black shoes and white gloves with four fingers and his head was the same as always. Everything about the scene in front of you just felt, strange. Maybe it would just take some getting used to.  
  
"Can you take me seriously, now?" He asked, innocently. The strangeness was through the roof now. He still had the same voice as before! If you didn't know better, you'd say that this was just a dream, but there he was. No denying the dancing demon.  
  
"Maybe a little bit," You remarked with a smirk, earning an unamused look from Bendy.  
  
"Why only a little bit?" He asked, approaching you ominously. You stood your ground and an idea sparked in your head. The temptation of seeing what the ink demon was like when his emotions were out of control was too much to resist. You weren't sure where your fear of death went, but it probably left after the ceiling fell on you along with finding out that cartoons can exist in the real world. Your fear of death could kiss your ass.  
  
"I'm still picturing the smaller version of you. You don't exactly look like a strong and tough adult." His tail twitched angrily. "The only change is your height. You're a little kid in an adult body." His fists clenched and a few dribbles of ink were falling from his forehead. You had to push him further, you were fully aware that what you were doing was mean, but you just had to see it. He was just a cartoon, right? He couldn't cause any real damage. You didn't even remember what Mood said about Bendy killing his father. "I mean, even Mood talked to you like you were his son." Bendy twitched, ink beginning to cover the right side of his face; just like before. You were hitting a nerve. "Plus, I've seen the old show. You're actually kind of a pushover. If anything, instead of Mood being afraid of you..." The ink was now covering most of Bendy's face as you paused for the big whammer of a line. "...It looks like _YOU_ are the one afraid of _him_!"  
  
...  
  
You could almost hear the metaphorical snap in Bendy's mind.  
  
Bendy grabbed you by the shoulders and slammed you against the wall, pinning you to it. Oh yeah, that was going to leave a bruise on your back. Bendy was likely going to leave bruises on your shoulders as well from how tight he was gripping you.  
  
Bendy's body had morphed even more and you now understood what Mood meant by "monstrous state". Bendy's horns had become far more sharpened and demonic and his signature grin now turned sinister and threatening. One of Bendy's arms maintained it's cartoon scrawniness with the hand gloved, but where he usually only had four fingers, you noted that a pinkie finger had now materialized out of the side of what could be considered a "ring finger". On the other hand, there no longer existed a glove, but what looked like a human-esque hand with the white of what used to be the glove covering it all the way down to the wrist. A look downwards and you saw that one of his feet had completely lost it's shape and now looked like a footless leg utterly dripping with ink. The other leg also no longer had a shoe and was, instead, a foot with only two toes. Bendy looked like an amalgamation of a human and the original ink demon, all while ink was dribbling down all over his body. You furrowed your brow at him.  
  
Bendy was still snarling at you in a rage. He looked about ready to impale you with his now-sharpened horns. You felt fear crawl into your throat and you started to shake. Bendy noticed the reaction.  
  
**"N͜o̶̩̼̙̪̼̲̘w̧,͈͔ ̸̭̞ͅw̷̼̣h͘o͔̤ ̧̙̪ḭ̛s̞̺̥̠ ̗̜ͅs̖͍̟̺ca̷͔̳ṟ̫e̷͇̞̹̠̳͍̺d̶͉̠̝ ̼̫̼̗̱o̴͇̪͕̳͚͓̼f ͉̞w͉͇̙̠h͚̗͍o̤̪͈̥͎͚̩?̶͉"** His voice was grating, like every word was getting garbled in his throat, covered in ink. Part of what he said didn't sit right with you. That's when you realized something.  
  
He was trying to intimidate you. He wasn't completely lost to the ink.  
  
"I'm not scared of you," you answered firmly, attempting to glare at where you thought were his eyes. Bendy pulled you towards him before slamming your back against the wall again, still gripping your shoulders.  
  
**"D͏҉͢͜͝Ǫ̵̧͠N̢҉'̡͘T̡͡ ͢͡L̕͝I̢̕E̡̢̡̛ ̴͜͏̴̡T͞͏Ơ̷̶̕͝ ҉̵͝͡M̕͘E̶̢͠!̵̨͘͢"** He bellowed. Now Bendy was the one shaking slightly. His grip on you tightened, and you squinted your eyes in pain. If his grip increased any more, you could guarantee that your arms would break. You let a small whimper out before you could even think to stop it. Bendy froze upon hearing it. He lowered his head and his grip loosened slightly; only slightly. **"I͎ͅ.̱͉͔̳͡.͕͉̠̜͔͈.̶̜̜̭͓̫̯͈do̹̟͔͈̭n'̗̮͞t̥̪̟̬͖ w̺͔̮͓̩an̺͇̻͢t̷̼̥̦̯̼ ̠̘̲͙t͏̻͇o͔̭͈̬͕̞̝ ͖̠h̨̬̝͓u̯̟r̥͇̣̗t ̝̜̦̘͟y̶o̥̰͜u̥͕̻͎ͅ.͈̫̜͍̲͓̘"**  
  
A pang of guilt shot through your system as you immediately regretted letting your curiosity go unchecked. Bendy let go of you and your hands immediately went to your bruised shoulders; the imprints of Bendy's figurative claws still left on your skin beneath the sweater. Bendy made a note of this reaction and sat on the sick-bed, leaving ink everywhere on it. There was a painful moment where neither of you spoke, and you just wanted to say that you were sorry. Something told you that if you said it now though, Bendy wouldn't believe it. You had to do something though.  
  
Then it came to you.  
  
"I guess...I was only thinking... _two-dimensional_." You noticed Bendy's head rise a little at the comment, a confused look on his face. "I guess I shouldn't have... _ink-cluded_ everything I said." This earned a guttural chuckle from the ink demon. "It wasn't exactly my most _ink-credible_ moment." Now you had him audibly laughing. "Looks like my attitude needs a... _toon_ up?" With that last one, you and Bendy were laughing together. Bendy's monster form gradually began to melt away into how he was before you ticked him off. Now was your chance! "Look, I'm sorry for doing that to you. It was wrong of me to not consider your feelings and let my curiosity of what you look like when pissed off get the better of me. Uh...I guess I'm asking if you can forgive me...can you?" By now, you could see the look on Bendy's face when you asked him. He beamed at you.  
  
"You know what, Dollface? You're a pretty swell person! Sure!" You smiled wide at his response, earning an even wider smile from Bendy. The both of you were sitting there for a moment, perfectly content in the warm atmosphere that was now surrounding you both.  
  
Mood entered the room not ten seconds later.  
  
"Bendy...what is this mess?" He asked, gesturing to the black ink that coated Bendy's sick-bed as well as the floor around him. Bendy raised his hand as if to say something, but he was cut off by Mood. "Never mind, I will ask Rachel to clean it up. Right now, I need you both in the recording studio. I have an idea."  
  
"Hold on, you mentioned about Rachel earlier. What does she know about Bendy?" Mood returned a warm smile.  
  
"Her family is not exactly in the most... _stable_ of situations. I have agreed to assist in pulling strings at her college to get a few scholarships in spite of her...lack of funds," he replied, returning to that sickening level of condescension. You could tell from a mile away that he cared nothing for the young girl at the front desk. "She has agreed to keep quiet in exchange for that. However, if she cracks and tells others about Bendy, then I made a promise to her that I would utterly ruin her family and forcibly have them evicted and thrown on the streets."  
  
Mood's true colours were beginning to show. He seemed to have no amount of sympathy for the girl and was clearly doing this just so he could have a helper to assist him with the ink demon and...whoever else apparently existed. You grit your teeth. Bendy said nothing.  
  
"Now then, we are completely free of prying eyes. Come with me into the recording room," he said, beckoning you to follow him. You and Bendy gave each other a look before hurrying after him.  
  
The studio felt unnerving at this time. There wasn't a single, solitary soul in any of the other rooms. It felt like walking in the old workshop again, but a more modern building. Bendy trekked close behind you, tail swishing back and forth. When he noticed you looking at him, he jogged up until he was walking next to you. "See something ya like?" He asked, mirroring what you said earlier.  
  
"Yup! Everything!" You replied without missing a beat. Bendy beamed at you, looking happier than ever.  
  
"You kids are so sweet, I feel myself getting ill just from hearing you." You and Bendy laughed at Mood's remark. He opened the door, and you and Bendy reentered the recording studio. You set your bag down on what you had now claimed as your chair before entering the glass room.  
  
"Why is Bendy here?" You asked. Bendy was sitting on a stool right by the microphone that you normally stood at.  
  
"He will be assisting in teaching you how to mimic his voice. In this way, it will be far easier for you to complete your lines each day. We will not need to constantly repeat your lines until you reach the stellar plane of voice acting." His condescending attitude had returned, and you finally understood why that was. The persona he adopted hid the enigmatic personality underneath. Your distrust for him grew by the second. "Now then, Bendy. Would you be so kind as to assist Micah in a few voice warm-ups for yourself?"  
  
Bendy said nothing in response to Mood and instead focused his attention on you. "Well, when you want to try and get into character for me. Try these three phrases to get the right pitch: 'Hiya, toots!', 'What's a dame like you doin' on a night like this?', and 'SHADDUP; SAMMY!' if you want to get my screaming voice!" You had to cover your ears when Bendy yelled the last line, but you got the general idea. After repeating what Bendy said...and screamed, you turned back to Mood.  
  
You were ready to whip your lines into submission.  
  
\------  
  
"You sure ya have to go?" Bendy asked, tail twitching at the tip. It was almost pitiful how sad Bendy looked. Almost.  
  
You couldn't take his whimpers seriously when he was still almost two meters tall.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm back tomorrow. Besides, you heard what Mood said, I'd be arriving later for the sake of being able to practice with you. Plus, it keeps up the whole 'injury' thing." Bendy still pouted.  
  
"You're just a lot better than the old pill..." Bendy muttered loud enough for you to hear.  
  
"Bendy." Bendy stopped staring into the distance and made eye contact with you. "Why are you so stiff around Mood?" He looks down. "Is he treating you alright?"  
  
Bendy gave a deep sigh, his tail twitching only at the tip. "Listen, that's somethin' I just can't talk about right now. You saw how I was earlier..." He trailed off, guilt evident on his face. "I don't want to put you through that again just to tell you what Mood is like. Just don't talk to him alone. Ya got that?" He looked at you expectantly.  
  
For a moment, you remembered the notes that you'd gotten about not talking to "the creator". A part of you wanted to ask Bendy if he was the one giving you the notes, but you thought it best to not bring it up at this time. "Alright, I'll trust you on this one."  
  
"I'm glad." He was giving you the second most pained smile you had ever seen. The only person who could give a smile more broken than that, was Erica. Something was clearly wrong here, but Bendy had advised not to talk about it right now. You wanted to respect his wishes. You took a moment to inwardly laugh about how serious you were taking a damn cartoon character. This was certainly an interesting day.  
  
A loud honking could be heard from outside the studio doors.  
  
"That's my ride." You turned to a rather upset Bendy. "I'll be here tomorrow, don't worry." You shocked both Bendy and yourself by giving the ink demon a warm hug. He froze, his gloved hands hovering around your back. He clearly didn't know what was going on, but followed your example and let his hands touch your back and return the hug. "Just make sure you're the smaller you when I get back here tomorrow." You said as you pulled away, earning a laugh from Bendy.  
  
"So I _am_ intimidating when I'm big!" He teased, triumphant smile on his face. You ended up struggling to hold down a laugh at the possible implications of that line.  
  
"Yeah, sure, I just don't want other people seeing you."  
  
"Oh, if you're worried about that..." He paused for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah, I'll let you use your head to figure it out."  
  
You gave him a look before waving goodbye to both him and Rachel before running to Gabe's car.  
  
"What the hell took you so long?" He asked. "I've been waiting a solid ten minutes! Did you veg out again?"  
  
"No, I just met someone interesting," you said casually as you buckled your seat-belt. This definitely caught his attention.  
  
"Oh really? Mind spilling the beans, or am I gonna have to beg on my knees?" You laughed at Gabe's remark.  
  
"Keep your eyes on the road, dude. I'll tell you when I get home."  
  
"You better tell me about those bandages too. I'm going to bug you until you do."  
  
"I know that, ya goof." The two of you shared a laugh before you stared out the window as you usually did. It was strange to be leaving the studio at around eight rather than four. You didn't _mind_ , per say. The company was pretty nice. A smile spread across your face as you remembered how Bendy taught you the little finer points of doing his voice. He'd been so patient with you, no matter how many times you'd mess up. Mood and Bendy's relationship was clearly something you'd need to learn more about, but for now, you could be content with the time you'd been given; both the good and the bad.  
  
Your brain wandered and, before you knew it, Gabe was poking your shoulder and alerting you that you were home.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," you stated, waving your hand at Gabe.  
  
"I mean, if you want to sleep in my car, at least let me get your blanket and pillow. It's damn comfy!" You laughed and walked with Gabe to the door.  
  
After the both of you made it inside, Gabe immediately turned to you and asked, "So, what's up with the bandages? You can't have injured yourself that badly while just _voice acting_." He paused for a moment before his face fell. "You didn't...hurt yourself...did you?"  
  
"No! Nonononono!" You repeated quickly. "Actually, the ceiling just kind of fell on me. Some guy was up in the ceiling fixing something and ended up falling on me."  
  
"Can't you get insurance on that!? I mean, it was his fault, wasn't it?" You rolled your eyes.  
  
"It wasn't a big deal, I wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place." You felt bad for lying to Gabe, but you couldn't exactly say that a cartoon character fell through the ceiling and onto you.  
  
"Okay, so it was on you. Alright, so you were just being your little ditzy, day-dreamy self," Gabe concluded and breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"I take offense to that!" You ran into the living room, grabbed the couch cushion, and chucked it at Gabe. He caught it perfectly in his hands.  
  
"You kind of are a ditz sometimes. Staring into space, poking the car lock, and now wandering into an area you weren't supposed to be in. Micah, Micah, Micah...tsk tsk tsk." He overplayed the last bit to perfection and you chucked the other cushion at him. He tossed one cushion back to you. "Pillow fight, you goof!"  
  
The war had begun.  
  
The two of you were aggressively clobbering each other with the couch cushions for about ten minutes before you both collapsed on the floor in a sweaty, breathy mess.  
  
"Geez, it's been forever since we'd had a proper pillow fight," Gabe commented. You knew his mind was wandering back to the final pillow fight you had with all four of the gang. Patrick was the pillow-fight champion. That kid could probably break a nose with a feather pillow if he aimed correctly. You'd bet about a hundred bucks that he'd do it, too!  
  
"Yeah, not bad...for a loser," you remarked.  
  
"Hey! You fell on the floor right when I did! No fair!" He whined. You laughed at his response.  
  
"So, want to hear about the guy I met?" Gabe immediately rolled over to face you, his eyes wide and hungry.  
  
"Yes! Tell me! I rarely ever hear you talk about men that you're interested in!" His face led you to laugh a little. You certainly didn't want to tell him everything, but that didn't mean that you couldn't take some liberties. "You're always talking about cute girls, this is new!"  
  
"You always bring me to Gigi's, Gabe. Next time, don't bring me to a bar that's geared towards lesbians. Although, Clara's pretty damn cute. That girl can dance!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you have a preference for girls, so what? Who's the guy? How did you meet him? What's he like?" Gabe's eyes were spilling over with curiosity, eagerly awaiting the responses that could potentially follow.  
  
"Well, he was the guy involved with the ceiling falling on me. After the dust cleared, there was the guy...he fell on top of me." You made sure to word your response carefully. It wasn't exactly a lie.  
  
"Okay, Mic, who's directing your romantic comedy?" You socked his shoulder with your left hand.  
  
"Shut up! Anyway, I got a pretty bad injury from it. I ended up needing to be taken to the company's infirmary. Rachel helped patch me up."  
  
"Remind me, who is Rachel again?"  
  
"She's the receptionist."  
  
"Gotcha, I got her mixed up with April for a moment." You laughed a little.  
  
"Rachel has the shorter dusty brown hair, brown eyes, and freckles. April has the longer blonde hair, green eyes, and more curvy."  
  
"Oooooh, that makes more sense. So, April was the one you went on a date with." You nodded. "Okay, so tell me about the guy."  
  
"Well, he felt really bad about falling on me..." You struggled to come up with things to say that didn't give away that it was Bendy. "We talked about 1930s lingo, made some jokes-"  
  
"Oh yeah, he's joking his way into your heart!"  
  
"Shut up! Anyway, we shared a few moments and he watched me do my lines for the show. We talked for a little bit more and then you drove up to the door and I said goodbye and left. That's it." You smiled as you remembered how much fun you had with Bendy in the booth.  
  
"Awwww, I know that smile!" Gabe teased. "That's adorable!" You socked him in the shoulder again and laughed. "Was he the guy wearing all black that I saw through the door for a split-second?"  
  
He saw?  
  
"Yep, he has a more...interesting taste in fashion," you struggled to avoid saying that Bendy basically wore nothing but shoes and a bow-tie.  
  
"Sounds like you during college. Don't you still have the pants with all the belts?" You gave him a look and he grinned. "What? You did! You dressed like you were in a rock band!"  
  
"I know, I know, don't remind me. Also, to answer your question, yes. I still have the pants."  
  
"I knew it!" Gabe pumped his fists in the air triumphantly. "Seriously though, I'm happy for you. You have two people you like. You haven't been in a relationship since you were...what...eighteen? Didn't that last only about three months?"  
  
"Yeah...that was a weird time for me. The girl was a complete bitch." Gabe sat up and turned to you in surprise.  
  
"I rarely ever hear you say that! She must have been awful!"  
  
"No kidding, she ditched our date to go get drunk with her friends and had sex with her biology tutor."  
  
"Biology tutor? What was he doing, teaching her about procreation?" You burst out laughing at his remark while Gabe imitated a drum beat and symbol. The both of you were keeled over and laughing for a solid minute and you were gripping your sides from the soreness spreading through your body. "Come on Mic, you need to sleep." He helped you up and brought you to your room. The two of you spoke about how terrible teenagers were through the bathroom door while you took a bath. Gabe replaced your bandages and brought a shirt for you to wear to bed.  
  
"I still find it funny that Ducktales was the only Disney show that you liked back then." Gabe commented as he tossed the shirt into the bathroom..  
  
"It was funny!"  
  
"Webby was annoying as hell though."  
  
"I can agree with that. You think they'll ever bring it back like Bendy?"  
  
"Not a chance, Mic. Sorry."  
  
"I can dream, can't I?" You remarked as you entered the bedroom, still fluffing your hair with the towel and wearing the over-sized, printed shirt. Gabe laughed and the two of you hugged before saying good night. He turned out the lights and you snuggled under the covers. You closed your eyes and let your mind wander.  
  
The whole debacle of Bendy being real slipped into your mind. Oddly enough, it didn't weird you out as much as it did earlier. The toon was real, there was no denying it. You hadn't imagined it. The fact crushed your reality into a million pieces and blew it away like the flame of a candle on a birthday cake. You didn't even bother questioning how he could possibly exist in the real world, it would have given you the biggest headache of your life.  
  
You let out a big sigh.  
  
The memories of your childhood were flooding back. You'd cry for the TV about half an hour before the next Bendy episode would re-air. When your parents finally moved, you parked yourself a few feet away, doing your homework for the day while patiently and eagerly waiting for the main theme of the show to start playing:  
  
_He can sing and he can dance! He's known around the world from here to France! This little devil is here to enhance, the lives in your home so take a chance! Watch him jump right through the screen, when we start the special machine! He's one of a kind and you can't deny! This little guy just loves that swing!_  
  
You realized that you'd started singing the song mid-way through thinking about it, and it made your heart ache for those innocent times again. One year for Halloween, they ran every Halloween-themed episode from Bendy's eight years on television, including the shorts. The total marathon lasted about three hours and you'd invited the gang over. It thankfully was supposed to end before the trick or treating started, so everyone had dressed up in their costume for that night. It was the one year where you dressed up as the "Little Devil Darlin'" himself.  
  
You paused your reminiscing for a moment to wonder what the real Bendy would think if he saw your costume.  
  
Gabe had dressed himself up in a Ghostbusters outfit, complete with a cardboard proton pack, Erica fit perfectly as Zuul due to her fluffy brown hair and an old dress she got from her older sister, and Patrick...  
  
You felt tears in your eyes.  
  
It was his last Halloween. At the time, he was the youngest at twelve, you and Erica were thirteen, and Gabe was the oldest at fourteen. Gabe must have teased him for a solid hour about Patrick not dropping his balls yet. Patrick was the only one to join you as a toon. He was dressed as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and, you had to admit, it wasn't great, but he still tried his best. It was just him and his dad, after all.  
  
Now the tears were free falling as you remembered Mr. Grant's reaction when the police man told him what happened. He fell to his knees and, after a few moments, started openly crying and yelling. You couldn't imagine what it felt like. To have a son whose mother walked out of both of your lives, raise him all on your own, invest so much of your time trying to give him the best that you could...the kid meant everything to him.  
  
He'd just lost one of the soul reasons why he kept living.  
  
Finally, the final memory that crossed your mind before you fell asleep, involved the memory of you watching the news over your father's shoulder...and seeing that Patrick's father had committed suicide on top of his son's grave on the anniversary of Patrick's death.  
  
\------  
  
...  
  
You felt nothing in the void. You saw nothing. You felt no need to breathe. You felt no pain. You felt no emotions. You felt nothing.  
  
You could vaguely hear whispers in the darkness. Questions. Accusations. Excuses. It was all floating around you; a screaming banshee moving in circles with you in the center. Everything was getting louder. Deafening. It pounded in your head. You wanted to cover your ears and scream, but your arms wouldn't move. When you opened your mouth to scream, whatever was surrounding you entered your mouth. It reminded you of blood. Of chemicals. It was drowning you. You were dying! No! Have to swim! Have to live! Don't die! DO NOT DIE!  
  
Then everything melted away.  
  
You found yourself standing in a room with a long corridor in front of you. Black liquid covering the walls and floors, dipping into a veritable river when you looked in the long hall. A screech resounded through the room and you recognized it as the typical audio feedback you'd get using a microphone. A sinister voice crackled into existence over the mic.  
  
_"Sheep sheep sheep, it's time for sleep. Rest your head, it's time for bed. In the morning, you may wake...or in the morning, you'll be dead."_  
  
A shiver ran down you spine when a cold wind blew past you.  
  
_"Hear me, Bendy! Arise from the darkness! Arise and claim my offering! Free me! I beg you!"_  
  
You recognized the voice from your other dream and panic set in your body when you heard noises coming from the hallway. You back away, past the boards, and hit the wall behind you.  
  
_"I summon you, ink demon! Show your face and take this tender sheep!"_  
  
You flinched as you suddenly heard a roar. The man shouted for whoever or whatever it was to stop and you heard painful sounds of what you could only assume was dismemberment. Shaking with fear, you curled up on the floor and covered your face and ears, praying for whatever was going on to end. You could feel the tremors in the floor before you felt thumps of what you assumed were monster feet. You could feel them getting closer...and closer...until...  
  
It stopped.  
  
You were now shaking uncontrollably as you felt hot breath near your partially hand-covered face. You quickly moved your hands to fully cover your face, but you could now hear whatever it was.  
  
It was deep, raspy, and throaty. It was nothing like anything you'd experienced before. It sounded partially garbled as well, like every breath was filled with thick liquid.  
  
That's when your mind reminded you that it was how a certain ink demon sounded in a certain state, and what the voice said about Bendy floated in your mind.  
  
Cautiously, you lifted your head from your hands without opening your eyes. It was now breathing against your face and the fear gripped your body, preventing you from moving any further. You forced yourself to slowly open your eyes.  
  
In front of you, was what you could only describe as a "true ink demon". It was clearly Bendy, the grin and horns were unmistakable. It...didn't feel like he was there though. You weren't sure how to describe it. It wasn't like what happened in the infirmary. You noted how much more ink was surrounding him and dripping off of his body, most of the drops landing on your shivering form. He looked larger than he was in the infirmary. Instead of a little less than two meters, this version was likely two and a half meters. His arms were longer and both of his hands were on either side of your head, pinning you against the wall without directly touching you; to put it another way. He was on his knees, at least, you assumed so. This version looked slightly more twisted or crooked, it was difficult to really explain. One of his legs was clearly damaged and he was putting most of his weight on the other leg.  
  
When you looked back to where you'd assume Bendy's eyes would be, the arms lowered and landed on the floor beside your hips, still preventing you from escaping. For the longest moment, you were both trapped in that position. Bendy staring at you, and you staring right back at him. You finally found your voice and spoke up in an almost whisper.  
  
"Bendy?"  
  
You heard a low grumble in the back of the creature's throat, which you assumed was an affirmation of your query. You could feel the non-existent eyes searching over you. He was observing you; studying your face and body language.  
  
Without warning, the creature moved it's head and proceeded to nuzzle your cheek, a deep purring releasing from his throat and his whole body seemed to vibrate. You couldn't help but giggle a little, he behaved so much like a cat. He continued rubbing his face against your cheek for about a minute, with you giggling all the while.  
  
You yelped a little in surprise when you found yourself on the floor with Bendy above you; both of his long arms pinning your shoulders down. His knees landed on either side of your body and he'd effectively cut off all means of escape; unlike the conditions of earlier when he just had you stuck against the wall. At least you had a slim chance of escape there. You were completely trapped this time.  
  
Bendy simply plopped down on top of you, nearly squishing you. His purring was quite loud by now, and you could barely think. White noise was filling your mind while he snuggled into your chest. You were almost disappointed that you didn't see any kind of monster-tail swishing around in happiness. The fear had completely left your body and was now replaced with relief that the real Bendy was probably in there somewhere.  
  
That is, until you saw an ink-black, human body crawling from an open doorway.  
  
You froze.  
  
Bendy turned his head towards you and followed your eyes.  
  
The growl you heard from him was the most primal and animalistic sound you'd ever heard.  
  
He leaped up and made the same breathy, rasping sounds as he did before and rushed the thing crawling on the floor. You watched in horror as the demon took hold of the body and threw it into the room you were in, far past you. You heard a splat as it hit the wall. Bendy ran to the thing with inhuman speed and took hold of the throat. Intense growling and other noises reverberated loudly in the room as you, with your own eyes, witnessed Bendy bash the ink-human's head into oblivion. That wasn't enough, though. Oh no.  
  
Bendy, with the more human-esque hand, now with pointed fingers, tore into the body and began prying its ribs wide open. You could see tendon's and soft tissue snapping and an obscene squelching sound now forced its way into your ears. You stared in horror as Bendy seemed to take great pleasure in mutilating the inky form he held.  
  
When he was finished, he tossed the body to the side like a discarded toy. Fear shot through your body once again as the demon rushed you and pinned you once again to the floor. This time, you let your non-death-fearing side make the dumbest move possible at that moment. You closed your eyes, willed yourself to bare your nails, and slashed at Bendy's face.  
  
After a few moment of silence, you felt a few drops fall onto your face, and you opened your eyes.  
  
There were four long cuts on Bendy's face, caused by your nails. You stuttered out a weak apology before Bendy unexpectedly nuzzled your face again, but with the non-cut side of his head. When he pulled away from your face, you heard him speak for the first time in that dream; boy was it a doozy to hear.  
  
_**"Ȳ̵̢͔͙̠̗̱͓̫̆͟ọ̵͚̝͔̠͆̄͋͟u̸͉̥̞͈ͨ̋̔̍̓͛͠ ̲̝ͫ̔͋͊ͮͨͤͫ͘͘͝t̴̳͎̥͕͚ͮ̽͑ŕ̶̡̦̲͖̠ͧ͠e̷͓̜̹̟̥̹͔ͯ̔͘a̩̲͇͕̤̰͔̟͑́̍͗ͦͅt̛̫̟̻͔͓͙̼̯ͩ̔̇̍̅͐ ̶̜̤͇͗͑͞m͓̣͚̻̲̩̫̾̀͆̔̚ͅe̥̯̙͗ ͑͆͋̑ͥ҉̫͖̳̗̜͇̺̪̘͠lͪͬ͊̉̿͂ͧ̆͏̶̲̩ì͔̱̬̏ͯ̚k͍̗͇̗ͤ̑̎͟e̷̦͒ͨ͛ͥͭ̋͐ ͗̄ͫ͛҉͓̠̗̦̰͇͚̲͜İ̴̡̙̘̗̹͖̳͗ͅ ̴͈̀̓ͨ̆̋̓ͯ̄ȁ̡̖̬̹̟̰̗̼̼ͭ̿̄ͯ͛͂͢m͒ͧͪ̒ͪ̓̽̈́͏͍͍̦̞͈̩̝̞̣ ̼͂́̓ͦ͗̋̏̓̔a̮̝ͯͩ̽͜l̢͓̿̆ͮ͝͝ḭ̴̰̮̗̯̹̂ͬͣ͆ͧ̊ͯ͌v͉̘̬̞̝̐͋́ͮͤ̂̓̕e̤̺̥̫͉̹̜͇͐̒.͕͉̹̼͔̹̪͇̺̏͑́́̒̀́̽̚͡͞"**_  
  
_You treat me like I am alive._ You repeated the phrase in your head over and over again. The dream rapidly started fading away to black. The ink once again swallowing you up.  
  
For a moment, everything was silent, before the inky void spat you back out into reality once again.  
  
\------  
  
You woke up to find that you were sweating intensely, your heart beating through your chest, and there was an extremely panicked Gabe sitting next to you.  
  
"Geez! You scared me half to death there!" Gabe put his hand over his heart and breathed heavily for a few seconds. "Don't do that again!"  
  
"What did I do?" You asked, breathing just as heavily as Gabe. He gave you a confused expression.  
  
"Weren't you holding your breath?"  
  
"No, I just woke up. I had a really bad nightmare." Gabe's eyes widened.  
  
"You weren't breathing for almost a solid minute! I got scared!" Now it was your turn to widen your eyes. Your stomach immediately dropped and you felt sick.  
  
"What the hell do you mean?" The panic in your voice was rising rapidly.  
  
"I _mean_ you weren't breathing! I got scared that you were dead or something! Then you woke up and scared the hell out of me!" His voice was high and shaky. You internally smiled at how much he worried over you. He acted like such a dad sometimes.  
  
"Well, I'm clearly okay. You don't have to worry. Don't stress out so mu-"  
  
"Of course I stress out! The entire week you barely ate, you barely spoke, what the hell am I supposed to do? One day of happiness doesn't mean a person isn't depressed anymore! Dammit Micah, stop acting like you aren't important!"  
  
You sat there, unsure of what to respond with. You couldn't exactly refute what he said, and you definitely couldn't fight him over it. Almost every argument you'd had with Gabe, you'd lost. There was only one argument that you ever won against Gabe, and it involved the Star Wars movies. In the end, you had to surrender.  
  
"I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry for being so...unsensitive."  
  
"Insensitive."  
  
"I'm tired, Gabe. Shut up. I know you worry, but I mean it. Things are fine now. I got things settled at work," you urged. Gabe was silent for a moment before speaking.  
  
"Okay, but please, Mic, talk to me if stuff happens. Don't be like Erica. If I wake up one morning to see you dead, I'm dragging you back to the world of the living, kicking and screaming if I have to. You're not escaping me."  
  
"I'm counting on that." The two of you shared an awkward laugh before Gabe left the room; announcing that breakfast was ready.  
  
Gabe had been a sweetheart and made crepes that morning with a delicious load of freshly glazed fruit. That man could cook like a professional. After breakfast, Gabe reminded you to bring your bag to work, you both jumped in the car, and you were on your way to the studio. The start of the morning was, undeniably, a blur.  
  
"Hey, so, are you sure you're going to be okay?" Gabe asked as he pulled into the parking lot.  
  
"Gabe, if there was anything wrong, you'd be the first person to know. You're being a dad right now." Gabe laughed a little.  
  
"Hey, I'm just looking out for you. Anyway, study hard Micah, get good grades, and be nice to the other kids!" You laughed, gave a hug to Gabe before waving goodbye to him. He pulled away from the curb and drove off.  
  
It was at that moment when you realized that you'd arrived at the studio far earlier than you were supposed to. You'd forgotten to let Gabe know that you didn't need to be at the studio until around noon. It was nine. What the hell were you supposed to do for three hours without the studio finding out? You paused to think for a moment before an idea hit you. This plan could work.  
  
"Oh! Mic! I didn't expect to see you here so early!" Rachel jumped up from her little chair at the front desk as if to stand to attention.  
  
"Shhh! I'm not even supposed to be here. Is it alright if I can chill in the infirmary until it's time for me to sign in for work?" You asked smoothly. Oh yeah, you had this.  
  
"Well, I guess I can let you in..." She paused for a moment. "Alright, hang on, let me grab the key." Rachel shuffled through the top drawer of her desk before pulling out a key-ring. "Follow me!"  
  
The two of you walked through the hall directly in front of the desk as opposed to the hall adjacent to the desk. You had a feeling that the reason was to prevent Bendy from being seen by the rest of the studio, or some other weird reason. It was a bit unusual to have the infirmary so far away from the actual work areas. You didn't question it too much and, instead, stared at Rachel's ponytail swishing back and forth like an upside-down metronome. It wasn't too long before you both reached the infirmary and Rachel unlocked the door.  
  
"I'm going to be locking the door behind you, since Bendy hangs out here most of the time. I'll be back before noon, so you can sign in for work. Okay?"  
  
"Alright! Take care, Rach. See you later." Rachel gave you a closed-mouth smile before closing the door and locking it behind you. You listened as her light footsteps faded out of existence.  
  
From what you could tell, Bendy wasn't here. You pulled aside some of the curtains and noted the absence of any other presence in the room. Alas, poor Micah, you were alone. You sighed as you sat on a sick-bed, laid back on it, and closed your eyes. If the ink demon wasn't there, you might as well get some rest. You were drifting somewhere between being asleep and being awake before you heard sounds in the room and soft footsteps approaching your bed. You patiently waited...just a little more...almost there...NOW!  
  
You immediately sat up, faced the direction of the footsteps, and yelled, "BOO!"  
  
Bendy yelped in surprise before falling backwards and onto his butt. You burst out laughing at the reaction. "Ah lay off, toots! Ya coulda scared me half to death!" You laughed even harder, earning a flustered look from Bendy. He impatiently waited for you to stop laughing before finally resorting to tapping one of his shoes to hurry you up. You finally calmed down and the laughing subsided. "Finally!" He threw his arms up in the air. "In all honesty, I'm glad you're here early. Mood was gettin' on my case for screwing up some of the animation work."  
  
"Oh dear, was he that upset over an accident?"  
  
"Oh, it was no accident!"  
  
"Uhh...what?"  
  
"I was bored!"  
  
You stared at the ink demon in disbelief. Had he really been causing trouble? You didn't even question if he was seen or not.  
  
"So you did it on purpose?" You asked quickly.  
  
"Yeah, and I'm pretty good with stealth so nobody saw me do it!" He boasted, seemingly trying to impress you. "Of course, Mood knew it was me. I mean, who else would leave giant ink blots around?" He started laughing, you glared at him. The fact that Bendy had no remorse for ruining someone's hard work set your teeth on edge. He saw your expression and stopped acting so triumphant. "It wasn't anything bad, it was just one drawing!" He protested hurriedly, clearly trying to stop the look of growing disgust on your face.  
  
"That doesn't matter! That's someone's work that they spent so much time and energy on! You can't just destroy someone's things like they don't matter! That person might have worked for hours on it!"  
  
"No, it was about ten minutes, actually."  
  
"It doesn't matter! Don't do that! I never do that with Gabe and his comics so you-"  
  
"Who's Gabe?" Bendy asked, a sour look appearing on his face.  
  
"Don't try and change the subject, Bendy..."  
  
"Look, I'm sorry I did that. Now who's Gabe?" You mentally sighed, what did you expect from a demon? Him begging on his knees? A long and drawn-out apology? Heh, drawn-out. That's a joke to save for later.  
  
"Gabe's my roommate." Bendy's face twisted a little bit more. You didn't understand why. "I have another roommate too, Erica, but she's away in Tibet right now." Bendy stared at you with a mixture of confusion and distress.  
  
"What's a 'Tibet'?" He asked. You stared at him in shock.  
  
"Wait, you don't know where Tibet is?"  
  
"It's a place?" Bendy had an even more confused look on his face.  
  
"Don't you know geography?"  
  
"I've been trapped in this same place since I was created. I don't know much at all," he stated and looked off to the side. You felt a pang of sympathy for the little devil. "I've never been able to leave. I never had an idea of where to go, what to do, or...anything, so I'm stuck." He looked off to the side again.  
  
"Do you at least know where China is?" You asked, attempting to help Bendy out.  
  
"Yeah?" He replied, raising a non-existent eyebrow.  
  
"It's close to China. Erica's there to study." A gear clicked in Bendy's mind.  
  
"I see!" His eyes lit up in understanding. Bendy jumped and crawled up on the sick-bed next to yours before turning around to face you. "So, what is Gabe? Level with me here. Is he...your daddy?" Bendy's face had an obvious amount of displeasure at asking the question. You howled with laughter.  
  
"Gabe? Oh no, nonono. He's just a best friend! Also, don't use 'daddy' like that. It sounds so mental."  
  
Bendy had a look of total confusion on his face. "Mental?" He repeated, making a face. The term was clearly unfamiliar with him, and you didn't even bother explaining what it meant.  
  
"He's just a really good friend, end of story." Bendy looked like he didn't quite believe you. Similar to how a gossip girl wouldn't believe you if it seemed like you were denying it too much. "Anyway..." You trailed off, unsure of what to talk about.  
  
"So, you live with two other people?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah, we've been friends since we were, I don't know...six? I can't remember, it was a long time ago." Bendy seemed interested and leaned forward. You took this as a cue to continue. "Well, it was originally myself, Gabe, Erica, and one more kid named Patrick. We kind of bonded over our love of 'The Twilight Zone' and, well, your show." Bendy's face lit up. "Anyway, we just kind of fell in together. Gabe and I drew a lot of art of your show, Patrick knew all the words to the songs, and Erica just kind of sat there and called us nerds." You ended up talking to Bendy for a while about how you and your friends had loved the show and about the whole situation on Halloween when you actually dressed up as Bendy. "I still have the photo album with the picture somewhe-"  
  
"Can I see it?!" Bendy jumped up eagerly. He stopped when he saw how sad you looked. "Hey, Micah, what's with the long face?" It annoyed you to hear your name said like that.  
  
"It's just Mic, please."  
  
"Okay, Mic, what's wrong?" Bendy appeared legitimately concerned. You let out a sigh.  
  
"I don't really look through the album. After Patrick passed away, it just hurts too much..." You saw Bendy's face tilt slightly.  
  
"Uhh...what happened?" You flinched visibly. "You don't need to tell, but if you-"  
  
"I think it's okay. I can't always keep pushing the pain away. Might as well." You sounded like you were trying to convince yourself that this was good for you, but Bendy didn't notice and, instead, listened patiently.  
  
"Alright, so, in September, after Patrick turned thirteen and Erica had just turned fourteen, she finally got the guts to tell Patrick that she liked him and asked if they could 'go and take a walk'. She was really stiff about it. Erica had liked Patrick since day one, so this was a big step for her. Anyway, they decided on a day to go out and walk around the park. The day came and they were having a lot of fun on the playground. At some point, it started getting late and they started walking home. Erica hadn't been saying anything and Patrick was trying to cheer her up and do some goofy walks. At some point, he ended up walking pretty far ahead of her..." You were having a hard time with the next part. Your voice immediately got weaker and Bendy had to lean forward to listen. "There was a big truck coming down the street next to them, and it stopped at the stop sign. Down the road adjacent to it, there was another car that was speeding and driving out of whack. The truck was passing the stop sign and..." You were struggling to keep your composure. "The other car hit the truck right in the middle, the truck ended up flipping and flew towards Patrick. Erica was really close, but didn't get hit...the truck ended up hitting Patrick and it...crushed...his head..." You made a motion with your hands to indicate how flat Patrick's head was, tears were free-falling down your face. "He got killed right away, but Erica ended up seeing Patrick's body twitching like crazy. Erica ended up running home and crying to her mom. Her mom contacted my mom and we all ended up driving to the place with the police and an ambulance. I...saw Patrick's body get loaded onto the ambulance in a black bag." You took a deep, shaky breath. "Erica was completely broken and sobbing and crying and...just torn apart. She kept screaming that she should have done something, she should have seen the car coming and warned him, but she didn't have the will to scream. She blamed herself for everything. She didn't even want to leave Patrick's funeral, so she and her mom sat by the coffin for a while after they lowered it into the ground. She barely talked after that. At school, Gabe and I tried giving her any kind of support we could, but she just kept saying she was fine. We ended up trying to give her space to, as our parents said, 'mourn' the loss of Patrick. I think...looking back on it...that made her worse."  
  
Bendy shifted positions, still transfixed by your story, and placed a hand on your knee in a weak attempt to comfort you.  
  
"Later on, she had her birthday, didn't invite anybody to celebrate it, and Gabe and I just kind of...showed up anyway and played some board games. I think that helped a little bit, but..." You started choking up again. "On the anniversary of Patrick's death, we found out that Patrick's father shot himself with a gun on Patrick's grave."  
  
Bendy's jaw dropped in shock. You started sobbing. Bendy jumped over to your bed and gave you a comforting side-hug.  
  
"Erica just broke after that. She didn't come to school, she stopped talking to everyone, and Gabe and I could tell that it was all eating her up inside. She couldn't take it! We tried talking to her but she kept saying she was fine...but...about a month after Patrick's father's death, on Halloween...Erica tried killing herself too."  
  
Bendy squeezed you tightly as you continued.  
  
"She found a nail file in her mom's bathroom, one of the ones with a sharp tip and just...went to town on her wrists. Took out bits of her arm in chunks..." You were starting to feel sick. "Her mom found her while she was starting on her right wrist and called an ambulance. Her father called for help. I heard the ambulance and I heard it stop by Erica's house. I just ran. I ran like hell. I got there just as they were pulling Erica out on the little bed that they use. Her arms were bleeding like crazy. She looked like she was dead. I got so scared!" Bendy was now hugging you directly, no more side-hug. "Her parents called Gabe and his dad to come pick us all up since Mr. and Mrs. McKinney's car was in the shop. We all got to the hospital and Erica was being wheeled in...and..." You couldn't finish the sentence and fell to pieces. Bendy didn't let go the entire time you were crying.  
  
It felt good to let it all out.  
  
After a good ten minutes had past, you finally stopped crying. Bendy used his gloved hand to wipe away the remaining tears.  
  
"Hey, listen, since ya told me one of your secrets, I'll tell you one of mine." Bendy stated reassuringly. This time it was your turn to sit and listen.  
  
"When I was created, I was the only one. Nobody else was with me." He paused for a moment as a few beads of ink proceeded to roll down his face. "Joey Drew and this other sap, Sammy Lawrence, summoned me."  
  
"Summoned?!" The shock in your voice was evident.  
  
"Ya think I existed because of a fairy or something?" Bendy asked, a twinkle of amusement in his voice.  
  
"Well no..." You didn't really know how to react. "You make it sound like you're the spawn of Satan or something."  
  
Bendy laughed before pointing to his horns and the spade-tipped tail. "I thought these would have tipped ya off!"  
  
"Well...uh, wait what? Are you?"  
  
"Nah, I don't really know how to explain it. I was just kind of there...I remembered everything from the episodes I was in. It's as though they're memories, even though I didn't really live them. I'm just something an artist drew and two goons made a reality." His voice wavered. "Kind of a downer when ya know ya aren't actually real. You're just being held together by some sorta demonic energy. I dunno. Like I said before: as far as I know, I'm just ink."  
  
"Well, you're pretty real to me." If Bendy's turned his head towards you any faster, you swore his head would have spun around a full three-hundred-sixty degrees, just like in a few of his episodes. "I mean, I can touch you, hear you, see you..." You leaned forward and took a sniff. He smelled like sharpie. "I can definitely smell you." You decided that going for "taste" would be taking your point too far. "So, to me, you're definitely real."  
  
His expression was unreadable.  
  
"It crushes my reality a little." Bendy gave you a look. "Okay, a lot, but still, you definitely exist in this world. You don't look like a bunch of ink splatters put together. So, there. You're _not _'just ink'. You're-" The dream from that night forced its way into your mind as you said the next part, causing you to slow down your words. "alive...at least...to me..." You could practically hear the Bendy from that dream, and his first and last words to you.  
  
Bendy didn't say anything as he stared at you with that same unreadable expression as before.  
  
The silence was deafening for a few long moments. What should you say? What should you do? This entire situation was unfamiliar to you.  
  
What significance did that dream have to affect your reality?  
  
Finally, Bendy spoke up.  
  
"Rachel's comin' soon. I need some time to think. See ya on your break, toots." You watched as he removed one of the grates covering a vent leading into the ceiling and climbed up. "Uhh...can ya hand me the grate?" You handed it to him and he pulled the grate back into place.  
  
The fact that you couldn't say anything to him bothered you. Not even some sort of goodbye. What were you even upset about? What were you feeling right now? Your emotions were all screwed up at the moment and you lowered your head into you hands out of confusion.  
  
You didn't know how long you sat like that before you heard a few clicking sounds and the door opened up.  
  
"Oh, was Bendy ever here?" Rachel asked as she peered in at you. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, just kind of tired. Bendy got up into the vents. Is he supposed to do that?"  
  
"No, but he does it anyway, he likes pouring dust through the grating. He even did it while I was right underneath one. I had to go the whole day with grey hair!" Rachel laughed in an attempt to break the mood in the room. "Mood gets on his case all the time about it. He's been causing trouble like that all week!"  
  
"All week? Really?" You were surprised.  
  
"Yeah! Uh...didn't you even notice what was going on the whole week? Random dust waterfalls? Ink blots on the storyboards and frames? The instruments being put in crazy places? Don't you remember?"  
  
No, you hadn't. The entire week you'd been out of it. Bendy had been pranking the studio that entire week and you didn't even notice anything. It just goes to show how little you paid attention to your surroundings when you were so preoccupied.  
  
"Sorry, I guess I was just so busy that week that I didn't notice."  
  
"Oh, I don't blame you for not noticing, Mic. Bendy's never touched the voice acting stuff." This struck you as odd before you rationalized that there was no way to really damage audio files with ink or dust. Still, it seemed rather out of place.  
  
"I guess there's just not much to mess up?" You hoped Rachel would take the idea and work with it.  
  
"Yeah, that makes sense. I just hope he doesn't cause any trouble in the studio while we're not here." Rachel stated.  
  
"What happens during the days when we're not here?" You asked without thinking. Rachel thought for a moment.  
  
"I don't really know. I know Mood spends time here, he talked to me about that, but I don't know exactly what goes on. Probably some repairs or maintenance or something." That sounded reasonable to you. "Anyway, come on, you need to sign in for work!" The two of you left the room behind; but you didn't leave everything you'd learned that morning.  
  
\------  
  
The first half of your time there was met with a concerned April fussing over your injuries, insisting that you drink some kind of juice that was supposed to help. You politely declined and instead suggested that you'd take it easy. The minute Mood asked for you to voice your line, thanks to your training from Bendy previously, you successfully nailed Bendy's parts, earning surprised looks from your cast members and approving looks from Mood.  
  
You didn't even notice the little devil in the vents, happy that you actually took his voice coaching seriously.  
  
Your break came and went quickly, but no sign of Bendy. You figured this was because you were hanging out with April and Harvey, but it still made you feel a little disappointed. Upon returning, you noticed something new in the room. In the corner of the recording studio, close to Mood, was what appeared to be a Bendy cutout.  
  
The exact type of Bendy cutout that you'd seen in the old workshop.  
  
You immediately walked straight up to Mood. "Excuse me, but wasn't everything from the old studio removed?" You realized your tone when Mood's face changed.  
  
"Well, Miss Hammond, we saved a few of the collectibles from the studio. If we hold an auction with the items after the show gains footing, we can likely earn enough money to increase the quality of what we have to offer here. A good portion of what we use is mildly...outdated. I would suggest that you go back into the booth and continue your streak of impressive voice acting."  
  
You had nothing to say, and turned to head back into the booth. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed that the shadow of the Bendy cutout was darker than the rest of the shadows in the room. How in the-?  
  
"Micah!" Mood boomed, snapping you back into reality. "Please read for us."  
  
"I apologize," you stated quietly before returning to your Bendy voice for the remainder of the episode.  
  
The rest of the recording went on as it was supposed to and it finally came time for most of the other staff to leave. You gave April a big hug and Harvey a firm handshake as they left the studio. Mickey Iger pulled a joke while he was leaving, and you laughed sarcastically before he left with a wink. Soon, it was just you, Mood, and Rachel standing in the front room.  
  
"Now then, you may have a break of approximately ten minutes. I would advise that you wait in the recording studio, I must speak with Miss Taylor for a moment."  
  
"Yes, sir," you replied before walking quickly towards the recording room. The minute you opened the door, there was the ink demon. Bendy sat down on the chair next to your bag, seemingly thinking. The temptation was far too great, and you closed the door silently behind you. It seemed as though Bendy hadn't noticed you enter.  
  
Quietly, you tip-toed around the devil before you found yourself behind him. Crouching, you crept closer...and closer...a little more...NOW!  
  
"BOO!"  
  
Bendy immediately fell over.  
  
"Not again!" Bendy yelled from the floor. You couldn't stop laughing at the spectacle. It must have been about two minutes before Bendy was getting impatient with your laughter, yet again.  
  
Mood entered the room, and all went silent.  
  
"It appears I missed the joke." He stated flatly. You and Bendy both shared a look before Mood approached the sound board. He gestured for you to enter. You stepped into the recording booth with Bendy following close behind. After looking around the room for a moment, you were stunned to notice that the Bendy cutout near Mood no longer had that strange, darker shadow.  
  
What in the hell?  
  
Well, there wasn't any time you could spare to think about what that meant. For all you knew, it could have been a trick of the lights. For now, it was going to be several more hours with you and Bendy voicing lines under Mood's instructions.  
  
\------  
  
"We barely got to talk at all today," Bendy said, disappointment written all over his face.  
  
"Are you kidding me? We talked a whole lot this morning!"  
  
"Yeah, but after that, Mood kept yellin' at me about other stuff, so we didn't get to talk for the rest of the day!" Bendy slumped in the chair by the front door. You could almost laugh at how he pouted like a child who didn't get the toy they wanted.  
  
"Yeah, well, at least I get to see you on Wednesday again," you replied, making sure your bag had everything you needed. Bendy flopped backwards onto the chair.  
  
"That's an eternity!" Bendy wailed.  
  
"No it's not, it's just a few days."  
  
"I still don't like it..." He huffed.  
  
You laughed and slung the bag over your shoulder while patiently waiting for the car. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Bendy's eyes light up with the spark of an idea.  
  
"Hold on, toots! I've got somethin' for ya!" He exclaimed before running off. You let out a cross between a chuckle and a sigh before continuing to wait by the door. Rachel let out a yawn before an expression donned on her face. It quickly disappeared before you could decipher what emotion had it been.  
  
You heard a honk outside.  
  
Oh no...where was Bendy?  
  
You impatiently waited for Bendy. You hated making Gabe sit in the car for you, but curiosity was urging you to see what Bendy had in mind. What in the world was going through his head?  
  
A few more honks.  
  
"You can go, Mic. I'm sure Bendy can show you some other time," Rachel said, offering a sympathetic look. You gave a deep sigh.  
  
"Can you handle telling him that I couldn't wait?"  
  
"Oh, I won't need to."  
  
Huh?  
  
"Well, bye Rach. See you Wednesday!" You said quickly before running out to the car. Rachel waved back.  
  
You didn't realize it at the time, but your shadow had grown just a _little bit_ darker as you left the studio.__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, I almost didn't make my deadline! I'll be going over it and doing some small edits like grammar errors and spelling mistakes. Also, make sure to reread the chapters! I drop hints about the story as well as other things, if something seems out of place, it might be important! Thank you for reading. Don't forget to comment and kudos if you like it!  
> Moi moi!  
> 


	3. Following You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last time you remember, young Micah had just left the studio with a mysterious shadow following her. What could this dark presence be? This episode: More Bendy shenanigans, Gabe gets a cat, Mood has a surprise for Halloween! Oh my! Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of "Bendy and Friends"!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've developed a system on what I'm writing about. So each chapter has specific pieces that I want to cover. Be sure to pay attention to what you read! As I said, I provide hints for upcoming stuff! Some are obvious, but some are more subtle.  
> Also, read the summary like the voice of the narrator from Rocky & Bullwinkle. That's kind of how I pictured it.
> 
> Oh! A specific individual brought this up and I feel like I should make this clear as to why I have a name for the reader. I've seen other authors with other reasonings behind why they gave the reader a name, but here's my reason why: Every time I'm immersed in a story, the whole (Y/N) always ended up taking me out of a story, resulting with me putting a name in there for the sake of the story (Mina is the name I usually use) and keep it flowing. So I'm writing it like that as a stylistic choice.
> 
> Also, a side note: everything that's happened all has a place of experience for me. The characters are based, ableit VERY loosely, on people I know. Erica and Gabe are LOOSELY based off of two of my very closest friends (Hi Phil and Payton), Bendy has bits of me in him. Actually, several parts of my life are in the story, but most author's do that with actual literature.  
> To put it simply, each character and situation is something I have experience with or I have learned from other people, otherwise, I wouldn't write about it. Haha!
> 
> Anyway, enough with the schtick, have fun reading! I just felt I had to preface this really quickly.

The night, for the most part, was pitch black. Aside from the rare streetlight, your only light was the sly smile of the crescent moon hanging in the sky. The landscape was flying by quickly as Gabe drove you back home. Your brain had been wandering most of the ride home, but it now rested on the question of what Bendy had wanted to show you back at the studio. He'd seemed so excited...and this was so frustrating!  
  
You slammed your head on the car door, earning an immediately concerned look from Gabe.  
  
"Mic, are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, there's just someone at work who's being...ugh..."  
  
"Being 'ugh'? Hmm, that's a new one for me. Can you give me a definition of 'ugh'?" Gabe had a smug grin on his face. You gave him a look.  
  
"Haha, very funny. It's so funny, I forgot to laugh," you replied sarcastically. Gabe laughed in response.  
  
"Is it that guy you talked about before?"  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"Because I know you very well, plus, I highly doubt you were talking about April or Rachel. You also don't talk much about the other people at the studio, so, makes sense?"  
  
"Woah, you actually had a smart moment!" You opened your mouth wide in mock awe.  
  
"Hey, I may not be in the top fifty percent, but I'd like to think I at least pay attention to my friends' lives," Gabe replied, giving you a look.  
  
"Alright, alright, but you were right. It's the guy I was talking about. I just don't know what he's thinking. I can't tell you how many times I can't see how he's feeling."  
  
"Woah, didn't you get famous for that back when you were still in theatre at university?"  
  
"I wasn't famous, but yeah. I've met my match when it comes to reading people." Gabe turned dramatically.  
  
"NO!" He gasped.  
  
"Gabe! Eyes on the road!" You yelled back.  
  
"You never let me have fun!" He pouted.  
  
"You have enough fun back at home. Sometimes even when you're supposed to be working. If you put down the controller once in a while, I'm sure you can turn in better artwork to the comic guys."  
  
"They're so lame! Do you have any idea how hard it is to actually talk to them and see what the hell they want drawn? It's so vague half the time!"  
  
"Uhhh...theatre? Half the time, the director back at my old school had no idea what he wanted for a scene, remember? I ranted to you about that, remember?"  
  
"I remember."  
  
"Then why are we talking about this?"  
  
"Because I don't want you to win this argument."  
  
"Gabe, you are impossible sometimes."  
  
"You love me anyway though!" You heard an odd sound and Gabe moved strangely. "Hey! You don't have to kick the seat!"  
  
"Huh? I didn't!" You protested.  
  
"Oh yeah? We're the only two people in the car and you're in the back seat. You definitely kicked my seat."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Yeah, sure. It was the air because it hates the fact that I like food that makes me fart a lot."  
  
"Oh that's rich."  
  
"You know it's true!"  
  
"Sadly. I remember when I used to sit behind you in class after lunch."  
  
"The teacher kicked me out one time because of that."  
  
"Did that happen? I can't even remember, it was such a weird period of my life." You stared out the window, thinking back on those days. It was such a long time ago, it seemed like distant memories.  
  
Even if some of said memories were so vivid, you'd have sworn they were only a week ago.  
  
The rest of the ride had you lost in your thoughts, and you soon found yourself outside of the apartment complex. You managed to get out without Gabe prodding you, and made your way to the door. After Gabe unlocked it, the both of you entered, and you placed your bag onto the couch before falling into it.  
  
"Want a snack, Mic? I know you brought food to the studio, but don't you think you should eat something? Maybe some..."  
  
Gabe paused before you saw him walk into the room with a platter in his hands.  
  
"Pie?"  
  
"GABE!" You yelled as you ran up and hugged him. Gabe returned the hug full-force, at least, as much as he could while holding the pie in one hand.  
  
"Listen, I'm sorry for yapping at you this morning. I felt kind of bad so...I picked this up for you from the store on the way home. Friends?" He had a hopeful look in his eye.  
  
"Friends!" You responded happily.  
  
The two of you made your way to the table and Gabe cut out a generous portion for both you and himself. You had sat down and began to enjoy your pie, when you heard the sound of your bedroom door opening.  
  
Huh?  
  
"Gabe, did you hear something?"  
  
"...Uh...no?" He replied. "I mean, other than you murdering that pie."  
  
This time, you heard the door close.  
  
"Did you remember to lock the door?"  
  
"I always do, what's up? Why the weird expression?"  
  
You paused for a moment to listen.  
  
"I think someone might be in the house..." Gabe's eyes widened in alarm.  
  
Carefully, you got up from the chair and made your way to your room with Gabe following close behind. Gabe held a pie knife in his hand while you grabbed the folding chair in the living room. It felt like the both of you were holding your breath, anticipating what was inside your room. A robber? A stalker? Some kind of pervert?  
  
Gabe moved in front of you to open the door, shielding you behind him. You heard the click of the handle as the door carefully opened, thankfully, without a sound.  
  
...  
  
**"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?"**  
  
You heard something fumble inside your room and you ducked down to see under Gabe's arm.  
  
Bendy was in a pure panic.  
  
You lost all sense of what was going around you for a moment and you found yourself protecting Bendy from Gabe's pie-knife-wrath.  
  
"GABE! I KNOW THIS GUY!" You yelled, voice cracking slightly.  
  
"GUY!? THAT'S NOT A GUY! I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IT IS, BUT IT SNUCK INTO THE HOUSE!" Gabe's voice was high and panicked as well.  
  
"I KNOW WHO IT IS, GABE! PUT DOWN THE KNIFE NOW, OR SO HELP ME I WILL...!" You didn't know what to say, so you trailed off and Gabe's face went from panic, to amusement at your failure, then back to panic. His eyes flashed between you and the ink demon multiple times before his breathing calmed down and he lowered his pie-knife.  
  
"Micah, tell me what's going on..." Gabe's voice was calmer, but you could still see him shaking. Taking a deep breath, you prepared yourself.  
  
"This is the guy I was talking about from work...uh...I think you can tell who it actually is..." You paused for a moment as Gabe took a closer look at the meter-tall demon. His eyes widened as he recognized the toon immediately upon closer inspection. Gabe's mouth opened to scream.  
  
"GABE! DON'T SCREAM!" You yelled in panic, shutting him up and cause Bendy to yelp briefly at how high your voice was. "Look, when I first saw him, I freaked out too...I passed out. He's real though. Bendy's real. Uh..." You realized how terrible you were at explaining this. Both Bendy and Gabe stared at you expectantly, awaiting what you would say. Finally you took a deep breath and recounted the entire story to Gabe. This took several hours.  
  
\------  
  
"Okay, does everything make sense now?" Gabe had been sitting patiently, listening to everything you had to say while occasionally glancing towards Bendy, who sat beside you on the folding chair. He thought for a long moment before responding.  
  
"So you have no idea how he actually exists?" Gabe asked. Bendy piped up.  
  
"I can answer that easy, I was summoned in a demonic ritual!" You and Gabe burst out laughing for a bit at how chipper he was, despite what he said. Bendy stared at the both of you, confusion evident across his face, as well as a bit of grey as he became flustered at you laughing at him.  
  
"I'm sorry...just...the way you said it!" You continued laughing for a bit as Bendy tapped his shoe, waiting for you to stop.  
  
You and Gabe finally stopped laughing after about five minutes had passed.  
  
"Maybe it's just because I'm so tired, but I'm not even really going to question how you explained that Bendy came into reality, I'm just that tired. Can I start having an existential crisis AFTER I wake up?"  
  
"Sure, I'll be ready with the tea for your daily breakdown," you stated with a smirk on your face.  
  
"I don't drink tea in the morning," Gabe replied, hurrying out the door.  
  
"Wait, you don't? Oh geez! Looks like I'm in the wrong reality again!" You slapped your hands onto your cheeks.  
  
"I'm going to sleep now!" Gabe yelled from the door to his room.  
  
There was a moment of silence after Gabe shut his door, and you finally turned to meet Bendy's eyes. You were grateful that Gabe hadn't seen Bendy after the demon had drank a few containers of Ink. Imagine how terrifying that would have been.  
  
"Look, it really is late, and I haven't been sleeping well for a long time, so...could we just go to bed and talk tomorrow morning?" You suggested.  
  
"Sure thing!" He turned away from you, paused, then turned to face you again. "I don't suppose you'd know where I'd be sleeping?" His face had a slight shade of grey, as if he were embarrassed by something.  
  
"There's a recliner by the TV. If you let me grab you a blanket, you can sleep there tonight."  
  
"Awww, I can't sleep with your pretty face?" You inwardly laughed at the potential subtext that question had before shaking your head.  
  
"No, Bendy. You have to sleep there. This isn't a sleep over, you kind of invaded my home, you know..." You realized that, after the panic from Gabe's outburst, you'd forgotten to be disturbed by the fact that Bendy somehow managed to follow you home. How would he even have accomplished that?  
  
"Fine, fine, but we can talk aaaalll about that tomorrow, toots. Maybe a few other things too?" You grabbed a blanket from your hamper and threw it at the grinning ink demon.  
  
"Shut it, you. Go to sleep." Bendy stuck an inky black tongue at your curtness in childish defiance before leaving you in your room with your comfy bed.  
  
Finally, you fell onto the mattress and let your mind wander into an endless web of worry and questions before sleep, at last, took you into her gentle arms and guided you to the land of dreams.  
  
A faint song from a familiar voice was waiting for you in the clouded visions of the past.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short for a few reasons:  
> 1\. I had a huge show with my nerdlesque troupe this weekend that resulted in a lot of drama, so I didn't want to push out a chapter that was affected by outside influences.  
> 2\. The rest of the chapter will be taking a long time, so I wanted to give you guys something to tide you over until the next chapter.  
> 3\. I need to re-read everything I've written and make more notes because continuity is a thing!  
> Thankfully, I have several months before my next convention! Anime Arkansas! It's going to be my second out-of-state convention, and I'm hoping on hosting a Fanfiction 101 panel there! Wish me luck! I hope you guys look forward to the next chapter!


	4. Finding My Voice Update!

Hey everyone! I figured it'd be easier to just save most my story to a Word file for a little bit to talk to you all. I realize that it's been a long time since I last updated. I assure you, it IS being worked on and it's going well! As some of you know, I own a Nerdlesque troupe (Texan Heat Nerdlesque) so I've been really tied up with that, not to mention work's been breathing down my neck with rent and other bills (yay, adulting). These are the reasons that it hasn't been updated. I REALLY want to continue the story, it'll just be a little longer until I can update. Thankfully, after Labor Day weekend, I'll have a period of time where I can work on the story like crazy, which SHOULD be the time that I finally update. The feedback on my story always ends up with me feeling warm and fuzzy and I want to keep making sure that I can push out the highest quality story I can. I've got the story all written out in terms of plot, it's just writing everything in to get to each of those spots that takes a lot of time. I'm sure a lot of you can understand. Anyway, you all are awesome and so, so patient. Keep an eye out after next weekend! I SHOULD have the next chapter out before the end of September. I'll update again if that happens.  
Thank you! Hope you all do well until the next chapter!

  
  
Edit: 1/21/2019 -  
  
I FINALLY have an opportunity to work on this again. I am really sorry everyone. The next chapter is thankfully almost finished. Expect it to be posted within two to three weeks! When that happens, this update page will be removed and replaced with the chapter. :)


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